Shaved Ice
by EvilByNecessity
Summary: "I don't get it, Via! You're a champion swimmer and have been perfectly fine with not knowing how to skate for years. You've hated the game since the day you were born! Why do you suddenly care so much?" "Well, er…Gray is the Captain. That might have something to do with it…" [High School AU and Sorta Prequel to 'Passion is Technically Passion']
1. Chapter 1

So uh… I uh…..maybe wrote another high school fic….. don't hate me :'( this one's a little different. It's about Juvia and Gray and takes place a bit before _Passion is Technically Passion_ except everyone's still really out of character and its basically just me rambling and picturing Juvia as a teenager (felt like she needed more teenage sass) who **DOES NOT SPEAK IN THIRD PERSON** (Ever tried to write a story from a character who talks in third persons point of view? IT CAN'T BE DONE.)

I took some hella creative license with it because I'm not a hardcore Gruvia shipper. Don't get me wrong, l love Gray and Juvia's my home girl, but something about what they have in cannon just screams unhealthy to me… so review if you want me to continue

I don't really know where I'll be going with this one…. but I have a couple chapters typed out XD

Disclaimer: I don't own fairy tail

Love you all! Cheers!

Also more hockey cuz fuck it gray likes ice.

* * *

It's official.

I am the largest fuck up on the face of the planet.

Fan-freaking-tastic

So here I am, wobbling around in the middle of the freaking freezing rink, praying to Mavis that these stupid skates won't kill me before I get to turn eighteen.

I think I'd like to be an adult. A lot.

"Via, just remember, take a deep breath and kick out slowly." Lucy instructed from somewhere on my right.

I snorted. Slowly. Yeah, right. More like, my foot would have a freakish spasm and despite my mental screams of protest, kindly reacquaint my face with the ice… again.

Look on the bright side – at least I won't have to ever feel Gajeel pinch my cheeks again.

Oh yes, that's me, Juvia Lockser, optimist extraordinaire.

Right.

"We know you can do this." Lucy said patiently.

"That makes one of us." I muttered, shifting nervously.

"Just calm down. It's not going to kill you." Levy giggled.

"That's what the stupid things want me to think."

"It's really quite an amazing feeling. You feel like you're flying."

"Until your face gets reacquainted with the ground again." I scoffed.

"No, only your face does that." Lucy smirked, and I scowled.

"Thanks, Luce."

"Anytime, Via."

I sighed and adjusted my weight again. "Alright, might as well get this over with. Er…skates? Please be nice?"`

They didn't respond.

Damn you evil knife shoes. Damn you to hell and back.

I took a deep breath, then kicked off slowly with one feet – yes…yes! I'm skating! I'm skating! I'M – fucking ow! I'm falling. On my face.

Again.

Yay for me.

"Stupid piece of useless shit." I muttered angrily, spitting out snow.

"See, that's the thing." Lucy said as she helped me up. Her lip twitched at the sight of me, but she managed to control herself. Good thing, too, otherwise I might have just taken out all of my pent-up anger on her.

I'm sure the result would not have been pretty.

"You've got to trust the ice." Lucy went on earnestly.

I guffawed loudly. "Trust it? Are you insane? After it's been beating up on me all day?"

"It's because you don't trust the ice, Juvia."

I stared at her.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me. It's just some frozen water Lucy!"

She looked affronted. "It is not!"

"Yes, it is!" I shot back.

"It's a state of the art hockey rink!"

"IT'S A STUPID FROZEN PUDDLE!"

Levy took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Tell me again, Via, as you clearly hate the sport, why in the name of Mavis you are even out here?"

I blinked innocently at her. "Well, I want to learn how to play hockey!"

"Juvia, you can't even skate!"

"Well, you can teach me!" I said enthusiastically, hoping she wouldn't be able to read through my fake-ness.

"Yes, and we all know just exactly how well that's working out, right?" Lucy shot back sarcastically. "I don't get it, Via! You're a champion swimmer and have been perfectly fine with not knowing how to skate for years. You've hated the game since the day you were born! Why do you suddenly care so much?"

"Well, er…Gray is the Captain. That might have something to do with it…" I muttered, looking down and wiping some water off my cheek.

"Via…" I looked up and saw that Levy's face was almost tender. "You want to try out for the hockey team?"

"Yeah?" I tried hopefully. "Maybe then he would, you know, notice me."

"He does notice you!" Lucy said, nodding earnestly. "You've been over my house every Christmas, Easter and Summer break. Of course he notices you!"

"Lucy, he thinks my name is Vian."

"Well, Juvia isn't exactly common, Via." Levy shrugged abashedly. "And we all call you 'Via', so he probably just assumed that your name was Vian."

"Vian is a boy's name." I continued. "In case you've forgotten, I am a girl."

"Well, Juvia could be a boy's name." Lucy said reasonably.

"My name is a girl's name." I snapped.

"Are you sure?" Lucy asked. "I mean, It's not exactly common, so I wouldn't –"

"Yes, it is a girl's name!" I cried, affronted. "It means rain in spanish."

Levy looked at me for a moment. "Er…no it doesn't?"

I groaned, throwing my head back. "The Spanish word is lluvia, pronounced you-vee-ah, my crazy ass mother just decided to pronounce it Jew-vee-ah! How many times do I have to tell you this?"

"Well, I'm not Spanish! How am I supposed to know?" Lucy cried indignantly.

"I've told you a million times!"

"Psh..."

I sighed. "Okay. Nevermind. Let's just get me to stay up right for more than three seconds and maybe move a bit, okay?"

"Yeah. I saw what you were doing wrong – you're leaning forward too much." Lucy instructed, grabbing my shoulders and pulling me back a bit. "You only lean forward if you want to go faster."

"Okay." I said. "How do I stop?"

"You straighten up really quick and push the blade against the ice." Lucy demonstrated. "Like this."

"Alright. Alright." I rotated my head and couple of times and adjusted my grip. "I'm going to do this now."

"Go right ahead." Lucy said, stepping back. "Just don't think. Let the skates think for you."

I shot her a look of disbelief, but then straightened up, kicked off slowly (HA!) and managed to glide forward a bit. I wobbled there for about three seconds, but stayed upright.

"Yes!" I said elatedly. "Good icy. Good skaties!"

Shut up. No, don't say a word. I don't want to hear it.

Tentatively, I pushed a foot out to the side and started to move forward.

"You're doing it!" Levy said encouragingly. "Now see if you can go faster."

I shot her another look that clearly said, 'No way in freaking hell'.

"Just try it, Via." She sighed. "I'll be right here to catch you."

"Oh, that's reassuring." I snapped. "Last time you were too busy talking to Gajeel."

"He's your cousin." Levy said, amused by the scathing way I uttered his name.

"So?"

"Nothing." She sighed again, tired of arguing with my twisted sense of logic. "Just slowly push forward and lean forward just a bit."

"If I die, it's on your karma record." With that, I kicked my feet out and leaned forward, I immediately shot forward.

Crap.

"Nononononononononononononononononono!" I screamed as I spun across the ice. I squeezed my eyes shut against the nauseating view, "LUCY! HOW DO I STOP?!"

"STOP SPINNING!" Lucy screeched at me. "JUVIA, PUSH YOUR FOOT AGAINST THE ICE!"

"ARE YOU CRAZY?!" I bellowed back. "I'M GOING TO TRIP!"

"FUCKING STEER, WOMAN!"

Panting with the effort of screaming and skating at the same time (whilst trying not to hyperventilate out of pure fear), I tentatively dug a blade into the ice, and to my immense surprise, I slid to a stop. I slowly opened my eye. Fuck, I'm going to throw up, but, Mavis, I didn't land on my butt!

"Haha!" I laughed, as I slid toward them. The cold wasn't actually that bad. Sure, I'm not going to be able to feel my face for a while, but this sort of feels…nice.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but it's actually fun. I actually got it.

OH MY GOD, I'M SKATING ACTUALLY SKATING! AND I HAVEN'T DIED YET!

Granted, it's a bit wobbly, but I'm SKATING!

This is a miracle. Someone, write this date down!

"See if you can stop!" Lucy called across the rink at me, cupping her hands around her mouth. I did, and immediately started plunging at the ground.

Bad idea. Bad fucking idea.

I splayed my arms out wildly and kicked forward hard to avoid falling.

"I'M GOING TO DIE!" I screeched as I tore across the ice to fly straight at the wall. The air whipped past me, whistling through my hair and into my ears. The world was a blur of blue and white around me, with glistening plastic as my final destination.

Holy Mavis, I am going to fucking die.

"Juvia steer!" Levy seemed to be yelling frantically. "Steer Juvia! FUCKING DIG YOUR SKATES IN YOU PSYCHOTIC BINT!"

What an affectionate person she is, don't you agree?

I jerked my feet to the side with a little too much force and avoided the wall with a few millimeters to spare.

I slid on my back across the ice with a groan.

"Juvia, open your eyes." Levy's frantic voice was saying. "Open your eyes, Via. OPEN THEM. Oh dear Mavis, please don't be dead!"

"Calm down, Levy." I muttered, opening my eyes and blinking a couple of times. The world swirled crazily around me for a minute, a whirlwind of lights, ceiling, ice rink and frenzied friends.

"That. Was. Fucking. Incredible."

Levy whipped around at the voice, and I rubbed the back of my head as I slowly sat up, wincing.

"Gray!" Levy said in a rather high voice as him and Lucy skated up to us, "What are you doing here?"

I suppressed a couple of choice swear words. Just my flipping luck, really. I've been in love with the child since Mavis-knows-when, and he chooses now to appear and realize my existence. When I'm on my back with tangled hair, lying in a small pile of shaved ice.

I bet it's a real turn on. He must be using all of his self-restraint not to jump me and my sexy shaved ice-covered self.

"How did you do that?" Gray asked me excitedly, completely ignoring Levy. I suppressed a squeal of excitement. He's actually talking to me!

"What, fall?" I pressed my fingers onto the large, attractive bump that had formed at the back of my head. "It's easy, really."

"No," he shook his head. "That turn was amazing, how do you move so fast?"

"Um." I looked to Lucy, but she just shrugged. "I wasn't really trying to go fast, anyway I fell."

"No," Gray said stubbornly "that was an awesome fake out." Ha. He's stubborn. Just like his stubbornly messy black hair, with the glinting strands glistening like a halo of ebony around his beautiful face, and his gorgeous dark sapphires for eyes…oh, those eyes. I could spend days just staring into their sparkling blue de – SNAP OUT OF IT, GIRL.

Sorry. I'm not usually like this.

Fact: Gray Fulbuster does funky things to my brain. I suspect it may come with the whole 'hopelessly in love' package I have going on for me.

I sighed and brushed some snow off my arms. "What are you doing here, anyway?" I asked him, squinting against the light as I looked up at him.

He shrugged. "I was in the lockers when I heard people out here. I went to take a look and you were going so fast; I just had to come out and see."

"It's because she didn't know how to go any slower." Lucy put in, helping me to my feet and pulling a random ice chunk out of my hair.

"You have to try out for the team." Gray said, completely ignoring Lucy.

"I don't know…" I said slowly. "I almost died..."

He waved it off. "That was brilliance. I'm signing you up for try-outs."

"Okay." I agreed instantly. I would jump off the roof for this kid if he asked me to.

"Let's see…" He walked around me, looking me up and down, a thoughtful look on his face. I fidgeted nervously under his gaze.

I would say that he's checking me out, but this isn't in the least bit romantic. And he wouldn't check me out anyway. He usually goes for the tall-blonde-and-gorgeous type. I'm average height, blue-haired and far from gorgeous. I'm on the other side of the fucking universe from gorgeous, actually.

"You're slim, with a light build and not really that much muscle. You're fast, which helps, and lean…you're a Forward." He decided, looking at me. "Definitely a Center."

Is that even English?

"Sure." I nodded.

"Great. Try-outs are on Saturday at eleven sharp. I'll see you there, yeah?" His blue eyes seemed to literally sparkle at me.

CONTROL YOURSELF, JUVIA.

"Definitely." I grinned at him, hoping that I didn't look like a complete creeper.

"You'll be there, too, right Levy?" Gray asked her. She rolled her eyes.

"No, Gray, for the last time, I don't want to be on the hockey team."

"Oh, come on, Levy!" Gray pleaded. "You're a brilliant skater –"

"No. I'm way too tiny and it cuts into my schoolwork." She said firmly.

Ladies and Gentlemen, meet my good friend and the largest nerd our school has to offer, Levy McGarden!

"Lucy?" Gray pleaded.

"I'll be there to support Via," she smiled.

"Cool!" He gave his childhood friends little hugs (I don't even want to go into how jealous I am right now) "Now I've just got to go finish that killer chemistry essay –" he said with a frown. He should ask me for help! I love chemistry, it could be like a study date! And then he'll fall in love with me and my mad chemistry-ing skills, and then we can get married and have three children and – okay, stopping, sorry.

"– so I'll see you soon, Vian."

He smiled at me once and left.

Did he just – he just called me Vian.

* * *

**Reviews my friends? *hopeful face***


	2. Chapter 2

**Since I have it done... I'm just gonna leave this rrriiigghhhhttt hhheerrrreeeee**

**Disclaimer: I don't own fairy tail**

* * *

"You're doing what?!"

"Shut up, Gajeel." I hissed, smacking the back of his head and sending a quick, innocent smile over to the librarian Miss. Porlyusica. She glared at me suspiciously.

Psychotic vulture.

"But you can't even skate!" He went on, pulling out a book from a shelf and adding it to the ever-growing pile on the floor.

"Gee, thanks for the reminder. I'd completely forgotten that I have no fucking idea how to ice skate." I said sarcastically, picking my own book out and chucking it to the stack.

"Why in the name of Mavis would you be trying out then?" He asked. "Via, you're going to kill yourself."

I glared at him. "Gray asked me to try out, so I am."

"You would jump off the roof if that ice bastard asked you nicely enough." Gajeel said scowled. "It doesn't mean you actually have to do it."

"I want to." I said earnestly, looking up at him. "I really want to try out for it Gajeel."

"You just want Gray Fulbuster to notice you." He shot back, crimson eyes narrowing.

"So?" I asked defensively. "Is there something wrong with that?"

"Oh, I dunno, just maybe the fact the ass doesn't even know your name."

"Well, he'll know it once I try out." I shrugged. "Plus, it's not as if I'll actually make the team. I just want him to know that I exist."

"And then what, huh, Juvia?" Gajeel asked, turning away from his book-search to look at me, arms folded across his broad chest as he leaned against the bookshelf. "He'll know your name, and then suddenly and miraculously fall in love with you?"

I blushed. "Of course not. That doesn't happen in real life."

"Fucking right it doesn't." He said. "You're being stupid, Via. There's no point in trying out."

"Well, I'm still doing it." I stated stubbornly, crossing my own arms across my chest as I imitated his posture. "Maybe something good will come out of it."

"Like what?"

"It's better than doing nothing." I said decisively, turning back to the bookshelf and looking for more books on Fiore's history.

"Fucks so special about him, anyway?" Gajeel asked, still surveying me.

"I don't know." I finally said, looking down at my feet for a moment before taking a deep breath and looking up at Gajeel's face. "There's just something about him that I really like. I can't seem to get him out of my head Gajeel. It's driving me insane."

He groaned at my cheesiness. "You're such a lovesick freak."

"It's called hopeless romantic, you jerk." I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Yeah, hopeless."

I smacked him.

"Fuck – ow! Fucking violent woman." He muttered angrily, rubbing his forearm.

I smiled sweetly at him. "Don't I know it."

"I can't believe I actually share genes with you." He glared.

"I try not to think about it too much." I shot back.

"Freak."

"Loser."

"Idiotic brat."

"Selfish ass."

"Crazy woman."

"Fucktard."

He laughed, pulling on a lock of my blue hair playfully. "Okay, you win with that one."

I grinned. "I always win Gajeel."

"Only when I let you win." He smirked. I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Fine, let's see who can finish this essay first."

"You're on, crazy woman." He poked me once in the stomach before grabbing his pile of books and walking to a table.

"Bring it" I laughed, taking my own pile and following him.

* * *

"You have to lean back to go slower Via." Gajeel shouted from behind me, and eyes still closed against the spinning surroundings, I carefully leaned back and slowed considerably.

I'd managed to stay upright after eating ice only eight times! I'm incredible. Gajeel, Lucy, and Levy were not as amazed. Just because they were born with natural-freaking-talent. Jerks.

"Okay, let's see you do that deke again." Lucy called over to me.

"It wasn't a fucking deke!" I screeched back, holding the stick in the wrong hand. "I lost my balance!"

"Fine, then, do it again!"

"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!"

Mavis, sometimes I truly wonder if Lucy even wants me to be alive.

"You've got to relax, Lockser." A calm voice said from behind me.

I jumped and whirled around in an attempt to find out if the person who said that was who I thought it might – holy Mavis, why do you hate me so much? Really? Gray Fulbuster? This is now the second time he's seen my pathetic excuse for skating – oh, and let's not forget to mention the lovely ice chunks that are currently covering me from head to foot.

I'm such a guy magnet. Rawr.

"What are you doing here?" I squawked.

"I was just grabbing some gear, but then I saw you practicing –"

"Fulbuster."

I groaned and swore loudly as Gajeel came up next to me, the breeze whipping his dark hair around as he gazed steadily at Gray.

Gray straightened up, eyes narrowed slightly. "Redfox."

"Lockser. Heartfilia. McGarden." I inserted brightly. "Yes, we all know each other's names; now let's get a move on, yeah?"

I was ignored. Thanks guys.

"What are you doing out here?" Gajeel continued, eyes narrowing to match Gray's.

I sighed loudly. "He's just grabbing some stuff, Gajeel. Come on, let's go."

They ignored me again. Surprise, surprise.

"I should be asking you the same thing, Redfox. You're skating with three members of Fairy High's team."

"I'm not even on the Hockey Team. Neither is Levy." I said impatiently. "He was just helping me out."

This time, Grays's eyes finally flickered to my face. "Why?" He asked sharply. "He's a Phantom."

"So?" I asked, eyebrows furrowing. "He's not anymore and what does that have to do with anything?"

"We don't mingle on the rink." Gray continued, eyes starting to narrow slightly as he gazed at me.

"Yeah, well, we're mingling anyway." I shot back. I need to learn how to shut up. Too bad it wasn't ever something that anyone instilled in me. "Come on Gajeel, teach me how to pass."

I should probably explain. Gajeel my hardheaded, abrasive, gigantic, arrogant, overprotective cousin transferred to Fairy High this year to be with the rest of his friends. Before he went to Phantom (pretentious ass private school) and hated it there, as did I before I transferred a year before him, but he was the goalie for their hockey team and is actually rather interested in trying out for our team. If he could just swallow his stupid pride for a second.

"If you want to be on the hockey team you can't talk to him." Gray stated.

I spluttered indignantly. "Excuse me? I can talk to him as much as I fucking want! Besides, Levy talks to him."

"I don't care if you're friends off the rink. But when you come to play, you're his rival." Gray said.

"Fine, we'll be rivals." I said resignedly. "Hey, rival, teach me how to pass."

But Gajeel skated up to Gray, eyes narrowed and hard. "You stay away from her." He snarled.

I groaned and threw my head back. Stupid overprotective jerk.

"Gladly." Gray shot back, his story eyes shooting sparks. Then he looked at me, disappointment etched on his face. "I didn't know you had it in you Lockser. Dating a freaking Phantom; you know he's our biggest rival."

I gaped at him as he skated towards the gate, too shocked to even form a coherent sentence.

He thinks – holy mother of Mavis, he thinks I'm dating Gajeel.

Insert: Hysterical laughter.

Seriously? Oh my god, I would never – wait. He thinks I'm dating Gajeel.

Great. Just great. Now not only does Gray think that I'm dating my freaking cousin (gag me. Right now), he also believes that I'm some sort of traitor to Fairies everywhere for hanging out with the "enemy".

Not to mention that he'd gladly stay away from me.

Fuck my life.

* * *

One more day. God, I can barely wait! This is so nerve-wracking. What if I mess up? What if I can't even stay on my feet? What if I forget to wear clothes? What if he calls me Vian again?!

I shouldn't even have an ounce of doubt about it. All of those things are inevitably going to happen, because, well, face it: I've got just about the worst luck in the world. You can't even begin to argue with me – if there's a one-in-a-million chance of something happening, I will be that one.

My life is just one large, sick joke.

Let's review the last sixteen or so years, shall we?

1) I was born in the middle of a huge storm. Right after all the lights in the hospital went out and about fifty other patients on life support died. In short, I was born a murderer. Karma points: -2000.

2) At the age of three, I drowned my mother's cat. Granted, it was an accident since I only wanted to teach old Mittens how to swim, but my mother was understandably upset. Karma points: -500.

3) When I was six, I had my first crush on Gajeel's next-door neighbor. He found out, and instead of announcing his everlasting and undying love for me, he punched me in the nose and then ran away crying (note: I didn't cry. He did). He will not make eye-contact with me to this day. Karma points: I'll give myself only +100, just to make up for all the other crap.

4) When eight my mother abandoned me. She just never came home. We were always jumping from couch to couch and she was always on something. When she wasn't she'd hit me and call me a freak and even kicked me out a few times. Karma +8000 (for not punching her face in). After she left I went to live with my Uncle Metallica, the widower of my mother's sister, and Gajeel. Well until a few years later when the accident took him, Natsu, and Wendy's parents. Gajeel and I don't live together anymore, he became pretty close to Natsu after their father's deaths and he splits his time between his own house and Natsu's now. I live in a dorm with some other girls we go to school with instead.

5) When I was ten, I tried out for the swim team, I've always moved through the water like a fish and loved it more than anything else. Even though I made the team it didn't stop the rest of them from calling me a gloomy freak -1100

6) Injuries/fires/disasters I've caused with my friends during my past year -yes I said YEAR as in one year. Singular.- at Fairy High (mediated by the rare occasions that I actually did something nice) give me a total Karma score of about -579800

Oh, I am definitely going to Tartarus.

"Via, will you stop shaking your fucking leg?" Lucy snapped for the umpteenth time as I bounced my leg energetically up and down.

"I'm nervous." I stated, still jiggling my leg like crazy.

"Well, be nervous somewhere else; I'm trying to concentrate." Lucy added a sharp jab to my leg at the end of the sentence, and I shot up with a yelp.

"Mavis woman!" I cried. "No need to get violent with me! I'm going, okay?"

"Please do."

With an irritate huff and a toss of my hair, I turned around to stormed out of the lecture hall.

"Hey! Lockser!"

I turned around, hitching a (hopefully) alluring yet still friendly smile onto my face as Gray Fulbuster came up to me.

"Hi." I smiled at him, deciding at the last minute to keep my mouth closed just in case I had something stuck in my teeth. With my luck, it would probably be a large, leafy piece of lettuce. I ended up looking slightly sick instead of alluring and friendly as I'd hoped.

How about we just screw this whole 'smiling' business?

"Look, I just wanted to apologize for before. That was way out of line." He said solemnly.

"Oh, no really, it's fine. I actually just wanted to –" I started hastily.

"No, don't. It's really my fault for acting like a prick. I mean, I shouldn't have any say in who you date. That's not my business." He cut across.

"Thanks, but I was actually going to –"

"In fact, I'm glad you're dating Redfox!" He said earnestly. "Really!"

"See, that's the thing –"

"I just wanted to let you know that your dating the enemy isn't going to affect my choice at try-outs whatsoever." He continued.

"But I'm –"

"So, I'll see you at try-outs tomorrow?" He continued.

"Definitely, but I just wanted to clarify –"

"I won't try and break you two up, I promise." He said, putting his hands up. "Hockey and personal lives should be two different things."

"But we're –" I started protesting.

"Sorry, Vian, I've got to go, but good luck at try-outs tomorrow." He smiled at me, and my stomach flipped over. "Oh, and good luck with Redfox too, I guess."

"Wait, no, I'm not –" I said desperately, but he had already turned away to one of his friends. I groaned and threw my head back.

CURRENT STATUS: Not only does Gray Fulbuster still believe that my name is fucking Vian, he now also thinks that I am officially dating my cousin brother.

I think now would be a sufficient time for Zeref to save me from the misery-fest that I call life and poof me off the face of the earth.

…(ppst, Zeref, this is your cue to go BAM! and blast me away.)

Screw you, Zeref.

* * *

"You're kidding." Gajeel said disbelievingly when I went to explain the situation to him later in the library.

"I wish I was." I sighed. "But Gray honestly thinks that we're dating."

"But we're related!"

"No shit, Sherlock!" I shot back. "He doesn't know that."

"Then why didn't you tell him?" Gajeel demanded.

"Oh, well, I just loved the mere idea of dating you so much that I didn't even want to correct him." I said sarcastically. "You think I didn't try? He kept cutting me off!"

"I still can't believe he thinks I would date you!" Gajeel continued in an appalled voice.

"Hey." I said in a warning tone.

"I mean, I'm clearly way out of your league!"

Wait what?!

"HEY!" I cried indignantly, hitting him across the back of his head. "You are not out of my league!"

"I am, too!" He argued. "Do you know how many girls are dying just for one date with me?!"

"Please." I snorted. "No one wants to date you."

This was a blatant lie, but I wasn't telling that to him.

He gaped at me. "As son of one of the most legendary pranksters the school has ever seen, the most brilliant goalie in existence, and the most attractive black haired male in the Fairy population, I think it's safe to say that I am extremely desired, Juvia."

I slapped him again. "You're so conceited!"

"It's just the truth!"

"No, it's not! I'm just waiting for there to be one girl out there who makes you deflate your – aha." I said, a devious smirk unfolding over my face.

"What?" Gajeel asked. "Blue, what are you –"

"Levy." I stated, smirking up at him.

"Levy what?" He asked blankly, an underlying tone of wariness in his voice.

I smirked wider. "Levy doesn't find you attractive."

"Yeah, well, the Shrimp doesn't find anyone attractive, Via. She's sort of a nerd."

Smack.

"Stop hitting me!"

"She is not a nerd!" I protested, slapping him again.

"Yes, she is!" He countered, dodging another blow.

"Okay, fine, just a little." I sighed. "But still, you don't seem to have the same effect on her as you do to the rest of the female population."

"She's probably a les –"

"Finish that sentence and I will hit you."

He glowered at me. "Well, what does it matter, anyway?"

I shrugged. "Nothing other than the fact that there's finally a girl out there who's unattainable."

He snorted. "Please. Levy McGarden isn't out of my league."

I raised an eyebrow. "She definitely is. She goes for those tall, mysterious, clever guys. You only have one of those traits."

"Clever?" He asked hopefully.

"No, tall, you idiot." I smacked him again.

"Well, it doesn't matter because I don't want to date the bookworm anyway. She's not my type." He shrugged.

I smacked a hand to my forehead. "Oh, right! I forgot! You only go for boob-butt-blonde-brainless." I said in a scathing tone that was dripping with disdain for his choices.

"Yep." He said proudly.

I hit him again. "You're such a dude. I bet you couldn't even get Levy to go out with you."

"I bet I could." He countered, raising an eyebrow.

"She'd say no."

"She's say yes."

"Fine, then. Prove it."

"Okay. Just watch: by the end of this year, Levy McGarden will fall in love with me." Gajeel declared, smirking.

"I doubt it." I said casually.

"Is that a challenge Juvia?"

I narrowed my eyes at him. "It's just the truth, Gajeel."

"You're never going to be able to get her to fall for you." I shook my head. "Levy is above that."

"She'll fall for me." He vowed.

"No." I shook my head again, taking a step back. "Gajeel, I'm not turning this into a game. This is my friend we're talking about here. Despite what you may think, I really do care about her feelings."

He shrugged. "I just want to prove that she's not out of my league."

"Fine." I said. "Sure, whatever. She's in your league. You're not doing this, though. There's no way you're doing this."

Gajeel smirked. "What's that again?" He asked, cupping a hand to his ear. "Is my darling Via admitting defeat?"

I gritted my teeth. "Yes, okay? Yes. You're not doing this. I'm not letting you."

He shrugged and leaned back against the wall, flipping his hair out of his eyes. "She is hot, though. In a sexy midget librarian sort of way." He said nonchalantly, crossing his arms.

"Stay away from her." I warned. "I mean it, Gajeel. You're not going to do that to her, understood?"

"Smart, too." He continued to muse, a shadow of a smirk flickering across his face. "Like, really smart. And she must be at least a 34C. Plus, she's got a fit bum. I've heard loads of guys talking about wanting to get to that tight little –"

"Touch her and I will personally pull out each and every one of your precious piercings." I snarled, poking my finger in Gajeel's chest. "I swear I will."

"Sensitive, are we?" He smirked.

"Gajeel, this isn't funny anymore. I'm serious. You stay away from her."

He stood up, looking amused. "Mavis woman, I was joking."

"Yeah, well, it wasn't very funny." I muttered scathingly, glaring at him and crossing my arms across my chest. "I don't know what kind of sick, twisted sense of humor you have, but I don't find it amusing whatsoever."

"Calm down, Via." He pulled me in for a hug, but I stayed stiff. "I really didn't mean it."

"Swear?" I asked.

"Sure." He said.

"Gajeel, I'm serious. She's my friend –"

He sighed. "I understand, and I'm sorry."

I unfolded myself and hugged him around the middle.

"Guys really don't say that about Levy, do they?" I asked finally.

He shrugged. "Sometimes, yeah."

"She doesn't realize just how pretty she is." I murmured, shaking my head. With her stunning sky colored hair, porcelain skin and vivacious eyes, Levy was probably one of the most beautiful girls I had ever seen.

The catch: she had no freaking idea.

"Neither do you, Blue." Gajeel pulled on a lock of my hair, and I made a face.

"It's because I'm not, Gajeel."

"You'd be surprised at what goes on about you." He said seriously, pulling away to look at my disbelieving expression.

"If it involves the terms 'weird', 'crazy' and 'freak', I've heard it all." I said.

He raised his eyebrows, looking amused. "Actually, it involves the terms 'very leggy', 'nice ass' and 'pretty damn attractive'…and 'weird'." He added at the end, shrugging in a 'well-they're-sort-of-right' way.

"Don't lie." I muttered, attempting to hide the blush that had spread itself over my face.

"Oh, and also something about 32D." He tacked on at the end, smirking.

I spluttered indignantly at him, face flaming, hands flying towards him to smack him across the head again.

"I'm just telling you what they say!" He cried hastily, putting his arms up to defend himself.

"And you let them?! Some protective cousin you are, you asshole!" I yelled, hitting him.

"Are you kidding? They don't talk about you like that when I'm around. I just overhear stuff." He said, shrugging. "And then I come out and punch their faces in. No one's allowed to look at my cousin."

"So you're the reason I haven't had a decent date in weeks!" I said in mock-anger, putting my hands on my hips.

"Guilty." He shrugged and smiled innocently, and I laughed and hugged him again. There was a short silence, permeated only by the sound of our gentle breathing and the steady thumping of Gajeel's heart. I had found safety in his arms since I was a little girl, and to this day, the sound of his heart kept me feeling like nothing could touch me.

Fact: Gajeel Redfox is my protector, and I would most likely die without him.

Tell him and I will beat you within an inch of your life. You really want to risk it?

Yeah, didn't think so.

"So," Gajeel started casually. I hummed, cueing him to go on. "Are you really a 32D?"

"GAJEEL, YOU FUCKING ASS!" I pulled away and cuffed him across his head again. Mavis, if I keep this up, he won't have a single brain cell left by the end of next week.

Well, it's not like he had that many to begin with. I'm not doing that much damage.

"What?" He snickered, dodging my blows. "I was genuinely curious!"

"You don't ask someone that, idiot!" I yelled again, jabbing him in chest and then smacking his arm.

"You're such a dumbshit!"

"Okay, sorry!" He chuckled, hugging me before I could hit him again. "It was a joke."

"Yeah, sure it was." I muttered.

"Well, I wouldn't have minded if you told me, but – ack! It was definitely a joke!" He yelped when I raised my hand to slap him again.

"You're a jerk." I informed him, smiling at his look of mock-outrage.

"I may be a jerk." He grinned at me. "But I'm your jerk!"

"Unfortunately." I smirked at him, and he laughed and he rested his chin on my head.

"You're like a sister to me you know that Juvia?" He said into my hair.

"Really?" I sniffed. "Aw, Gajeel-kun, I love you too!"

"'Gihi' You're such a freak," he laughed.

"Um, sorry, am I interrupting something?" Gray Fulbuster's voice came from behind me.

FUCK. MY. LIFE.

Gajeel quickly let me go and turned around to face him. "What are you doing here Fulbuster?" He asked belligerently, ignoring my arm-jabs of protest.

Gray's eyes narrowed. "Actually, I was just picking up a book for that History essay.

"Gray?" Levy's voice came up behind him, and I noticed Gajeel stand up straighter.

…oh, dear.

"Oh hey, Via. Redfox." Levy nodded at Gajeel, and he grinned at her at her.

"McGarden."

Mavis, how does he manage to make such an ugly, ordinary last name (I mean, come on: It's McGarden. Mc-Gaaarrddddeeennn. That's hideous) sound alluring?

I jabbed him swiftly in his ribs, and his smile tightened as he let out an involuntary hiss of pain.

"What're you guys doing here?" Levy put her hands on her hips and raised her eyebrows at us.

"Oh, you know." I shrugged innocently, shooting a look at Gray Fulbuster to make sure that he was listening. "Just hanging out with my favorite cou –"

"Come on Juvia we should get out of here."

"But-"

"Hey Redfox?" Gray asked, and my heart jumped a bit. Gajeel turned around, eyebrow raised coolly to indicate him to go on.

"Don't even think about coming to our try-outs tomorrow." Gray said menacingly. "Just because your girlfriend is trying out doesn't mean you have to come and watch."

I am going to pretend that he did not refer to me in a deeply disgusted voice.

"Hold on." I started. "First off, I'm not even –"

"I wouldn't have come anyway." Gajeel snarled, cutting me off. My mouth dropped open.

"Hey!" I cried indignantly. "You wouldn't even have come to watch your own cou –".

"Come on, Via." Gajeel muttered, putting his arm around my shoulders. "Let's go. I'll walk you to class."

"You don't have to." I protested, shaking his arm off.

"I want to." He insisted.

"Gajeel, dear, I am perfectly capable of walking myself to class." I reminded him through gritted teeth. "There is no need to be an overbearing male."

"Come on, Via." Gajeel said, eyes narrowed. "I am walking you to class."

"Why are you afraid? Think I'm going to get jumped on the way to trig?" I asked sarcastically, finally giving in and letting him steer me out.

"No. I just want to walk you back." He responded calmly.

"But why?!"

"Because."

Gajeel is an annoying ass sometimes. He really – OH MY GOD.

I just realized something.

Gajeel is officially the worst human being to ever walk this planet – plague is more like it, actually. He just made Gray Fulbuster's suspicions stronger. And I didn't even realize it.

Can you believe my luck?!

It's final.

Gajeel is going to die.

I. Am. Going. To. Kill. Him. Slowly. And. Painfully.

Now, thanks to that wonderful little act that my dearest cousin put on, the current status amounts to this:

Gray still believes that I am dating my cousin (insert: shudder of disgust). He also still believes that I am a traitorous freak who gallivants around with our rivals. Even though I had every opportunity to let him know, he is currently just as unaware of my real name as he was last time I met him. And he actually thinks I'm a hockey player.

Fan-freaking-tastic.

* * *

**Tell me what you think and if you would like me to continue? :3 prrreeeettttttttttttttttttyyyyyyyyyyyy ppppppllleeeeaaasssseeee? *hope***


	3. Chapter 3

Disclllaaaiiiimmmeeeerrrrrrr: I own nothing, all characters and trademarks belong to the esteemed Hiro Mashima

* * *

Holy mother of Mavis, I am just about ready to pee myself out of pure, unadulterated fear. What the fucking hell was I thinking 'oh, okay, let's go and try out for the hockey team, a-doi!?'

I must have been on crack. Or high off of like, Lucy's perfume. It is rather intoxicating. I need to tell her to stop wearing so much vanilla, because, clearly, it has addled my brains beyond repair.

Because, instead of screwing it all and going back into the safety of my room (and more importantly off this stupid frozen puddle), I am still standing out here, clutching Lucy's hockey stick and doing my very best not to start hyperventilating.

He expects us to do laps around the rink. Like, skate. Which I've only done once. Barely. And even then, I crashed landed oh-so-gracefully and slid around on my face for a while.

And not only am I actually supposed to skate, I also have to be handling a stupid rubber puck! The thing is titchy, okay?

Whoever invented this sport needs to be tortured to death. Sadistic freak.

"Alright," Gray called in his (manly, melodic, velvety, beautiful) voice. "Everyone trying out for Forward please line up here."

A bunch of pathetic-looking people shuffled over to where he was pointing, and I hastily followed, trying to look calm and confident.

I failed. Miserably.

Though, granted, I'm in better condition than some of the other people trying out – one boy is literally shaking in his skates. And – oh, gross. Someone just wet their pants! Mavis, didn't your mother teach you to use the potty when you were, oh, I don't know, maybe about three? What is wrong with people?

This is rather upsetting, but I think I might be the best hockey player here. How completely pathetic.

"Okay." Gray said uncertainly, looking slightly discouraged as he looked us over. He winced slightly as he saw the pant-wetter, and with a swish he pulled off his jacket he handed it over with a small smile/grimace.

Sigh. He's so nice. He'll be the perfect father, I can just tell. He'll come back from work, all 'Honey! I'm ho-ome!', and then all three of our children will come running out of the house, and he'll chuckle and ruffle hair and hug them and pick one of them up as he walks through the front door to receive my greeting kiss. Then he'll send the little children off to play and sexily bother me while I'm trying to cook. I will eventually give up on cooking and instead kiss him back, and we'll all go out to dinner.

…Ah, what a wonderful life we'll have together…

I'm just waiting for reality to bitch-slap me back to the present. Any time now…

A shrill whistle sounded (ah, there we go. -How are you, reality?), and the motley bunch around me all took off, albeit a bit shakily.

And I stood there stupidly, looking lost as I blinked and realized that I was standing on a ice rink, not eating in a restaurant with my husband and three kids, who – OKAY, FOCUS.

"Ack!" I yelped, quickly pushing one foot away from me and (slowly) starting forward. To my immense surprise and relief, I managed to stay upright instead of smashing my face into the ice.

Which is, you know, always a good thing.

I move forward shakily, concentrating solely on staying on my feet. Taking a deep breath, I started skating along the edge of the rink. I pushed slightly to my right, and moved a bit to the right. I tried the same with the left side, with similar results, so then I went ahead and proved my idiot-ness by bending forward and kicking off, subsequently, shooting forward at ungodly speeds.

"FUCK!" I screamed as the air whipped past me. I squeezed my eyes shut against the onslaught of wind and blurs of shapes that sped by me, but then realized that, with my eyes closed, I wouldn't be able to see where I was going.

Yes, I know, I'm a smart one.

So I peeled them open, and sat back a little bit – AHA! I've slowed down!

I am a freaking genius!

Giving myself a short celebratory grin, I skated around some more (yes, without crashing into someone! MIRACLE!), and decided that it was high time I started actually paying attention to what was going on around me. All the other Forward hopefuls, it seemed, were also skating for the first or second time, as many of them were cursing as they spun across the ice.

I bet that's how I looked. How attractive.

A couple of them seemed as though they were actually capable of skating, and one boy had progressed as to start taking shots against the goalie hopefuls. His eyes squinted and narrowed as he gazed around the rink and lined up for another shot, occasionally, circling around a bit as if to prove just exactly how skilled he was at this whole 'skating' thing.

While watching him I somehow found away to trip over nothing and flew forward screaming and trying to stop. Flailing my arms and stick wildly I wandered through the puck mind field at the far end of the rink and sent them flying everywhere with my arms swinging around like a lunatic.

I bet I look fucking ridiculious

I think I must have some brain damage. My mother was a suckish parental figure anyway – it's probably her fault I turned out like this. I bet she dropped me on my head all the time.

My mother has turned me into a freak. I give myself +200 Karma points.

Digging my skates into the ice I promptly fell on my ass.

Kill me now.

I wallowed in myself pity party for a second until I noticed the chatter around me had gone almost completely silent.

Slowly looking up I saw about half the people on the rink giving me the same dumbfounded stare and the other half staring at the goal on the far side of the rink, where I just somehow noticed about 80% of the pucks I had sent flying had landed squarely.

I got up, nonchalantly brushed my hair down and wobbled over to a thoroughly flabbergasted Gray Fulbuster, gave him a vague smile, handed him Lucy's stick, asked him if he could return it to her, and slowly started trekking toward the rink gates.

That's when it hit me.

I just scored a ton of goals. Against possible goalies. At try-outs. Which means…

Oh, Mavis. What have I done?

I think I might be Fairy Tail's new forward.

As this trivial piece of information dawned on me at last, I promptly tripped over my own skates and landed on my face in the middle of the rink.

Great. Just great.

* * *

"You what?!" Lucy shrieked, eyes wide as I gave her the news.

I was wearing a grim expression, doing my best not to break down crying as I explained the horrible situation that I'd gotten myself into.

"I'm Fairy Tail's new forward" I moaned, banging my head against the table as if that would somehow make the past few events just not happen.

The only think I achieved was a headache.

This day just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?

"But you can't even skate!" Lucy continued.

I looked at her. "How very astute of you, Lucy."

"What have you gotten yourself into?" Lucy asked, raking her hands through her hair and throwing her head back.

"I don't know." I groaned and sat down on my bed. "That was the stupidest thing I've ever done."

"Well, you've got to go and tell him that you don't know how to skate." Lucy decided, sitting up. "There's no way that you're going to keep this up."

I gaped at her. "But – but –" I spluttered. "But Lucy, this is the only way he can notice me!"

Her jaw locked. "No way. You're going to get yourself killed or something. Come on, we're going to go and tell him right now."

She got up and straightened out her skirt, looking at me with an eyebrow raised as I continued to gaze hopelessly at her.

"I don't want to." I mumbled pitifully. "He's going to be so disappointed, Lucy."

"Too bad." With that, Lucy grabbed my arm and towed me out of the room.

Moral of this story: Never befriend Lucy Heartfilia. She will take over your life.

Thankfully, the gods seemed to be on my side for once, and so Gray was nowhere to be found. And that's really saying something, since me and Lucy looked everywhere – and I mean everywhere. Lucy even went as far as to bribe Erza with cake for his whereabouts.

But Gray Fulbuster seemed to have disappeared off the face of the planet. I'll be honest here – I'm sort of worried about him. I mean, where could he have gone? Did he leave? Did he transfer schools? What if I never see him again? What if he killed himself because he didn't want to deal with me as his Forward? What if he moved? What if I never see him again?! OH MY GOD, I NEED TO SEE HIM AGAIN, OTHERWISE I MIGHT JUST DIE.

Did I say sort of worried? I meant extremely.

Actually, I might be (read: definitely) hyperventilating. Just a little.

"Via, calm down." Lucy soothed, pulling a paper bag out of seemingly nowhere. I seized it and puffed crazily into it, watching as the bag swelled and shrunk with each of my breaths.

"Whad if I nevah –" Puff, puff. "See him agai?" I cried desolately into the bag between frenzied breaths. "Imma die, Roh!" Puff, puff.

"Take a deep breath, Via." Lucy instructed, looking alarmed.

I shot her a dirty look. What does it look like I'm doing, woman? Baking a fucking cake?!

"Um, what're you doing?" I heard the gorgeous, musical, absolutely perfect voice of Gray Fulbuster behind me, and I whirled around, the bag convulsing even more intensely as I looked at him.

"Oh, there you are!" Lucy said cheerfully, attempting to hide me in my pitiful state.

Actually, I don't think there's ever been a time when I haven't been in a pitiful state.

How pathetic.

"OHMIGAWD, you're okay!" I cried, flinging myself into his arms as I realized that he was absolutely unscathed. He caught me, looking extremely fearful for my sanity, which, sadly, has never really been that healthy.

I wish someone would stop me before I do these things.

"Erm, of course I'm okay." He said unsurely, patting me gingerly on the head as I continued to hyperventilate into the bag whilst still slung over his shoulder.

"I thought I was never gonna see you again!" I continued.

Maybe I'll wake up from this terrible nightmare and laugh at myself later on. Mavis, I really wish I wasn't being such an idiot.

But my body seemed to have a brain of its own, as it was currently being a complete fool, despite my mental screams of protest.

"Where would I go?" He asked, amusement creeping into his still alarmed tone.

"I thought you might kill yourself because I'm your Forward!" I said, finally able to breathe properly.

"I wouldn't kill myself over that." He said, more amusement creeping into his voice. "Fuck, Lockser, I didn't know you cared so much."

I froze.

Within the next instant, I had untangled myself from him, blushing profusely.

"I was just worried, since you're my captain and all. You know, there wouldn't even be a hockey team without its captain! I was worried about the team, of course." I rambled, nodding eagerly. "Definitely worried about the team. Er…which I don't know, since I've never seen them before, but I still had their best interests at heart."

He nodded. "Sure."

"I mean, why would I be so worried about whether or not you were here?" I let out a loud, false laugh. "I barely know you! Even though you're my captain…and Lucy's favorite guy friend– WAIT, WHO SAID FAVORITE GUY FRIEND? Did I just say favorite guy friend? I meant…er…dachshund! Hold on, that doesn't rhyme. What rhymes with friend? Oh, forget it, I don't know. I promised Lucy that I wouldn't ever tell anyone that you're her favorite guy friend – which you're not, obviously – but, er…"

Both Gray and Lucy were staring at me as though I was a card-carrying member of the local loony center.

Crap.

"Erm." I continued feebly. "Well…either way, I'm not worried, since I'm dating Gajeel and all…"

Shoot me. Shoot me.

"WAIT, NO!" I yelled. "Wait, that was –"

"Okay, you're done talking before you say something else really stupid." Lucy declared, clapping her hand over my mouth. I sent her a thankful look.

"Erm, well, I was just looking for you. The rest of the team wants to meet you." He smiled – SMILED! OH MAVIS, I CAN'T BREATHE! THE BAG, WHERE'S THE BAG?! Lucy, give me the freaking bag! – and I immediately perked up.

"Really?" I said eagerly. Though, since Lucy's hand was still clamped firmly over my mouth, it came out more like, "Nmmphly?"

He nodded, looking slightly unsure. "Yeah, let's go."

"Actually, Gray, there's something that Ju –" Lucy began, but I quickly pulled her hand off my face.

"I WOULD LOVE TO COME MEET THE REST OF THE TEAM!" I said excitedly, before Lucy could get her sentence out. "Come on, let's go, bye, Lucy." I said, grabbing his arm and marching hastily away before Lucy could protest any more.

I feel like there are two holes getting burned into the back of my head.

* * *

"After you." Gray smiled again and held open the door for me. After a smile (er…it may have been a tad overenthusiastic…and you know, he may have looked slightly creeped out afterwards), I stepped through, my eyes immediately drawn to the numerous posters, charts, pictures and pie charts on the walls.

"Wow, this place is incredible," I breathed, walking up and examining one of the posters. It was a diagram of…wow, some of the signature Sabretooth moves. Look at that!

I shrugged and moved away before Gray's presence made me do something stupid.

I don't know why, but just something about him makes me turn into the largest dumbass on the face of the world.

I'm doing so well, too. I must seem so normal right now! This is so exciting! It might be the best day of my life.

"Alright, Lockser, how about we introduce you to the team, yeah?" Gray said in an amused voice, and I turned around. My eyes widened as I took in the team.

Oh gods, why do you enjoy making my life miserable?

"Guys, this is Vian Lockser, our new forward." He introduced, laying his hand on my shoulder. I was so shocked that I didn't even bother to correct him when he said my name wrong.

Or, you know, completely freak out because ohmigawd, Gray Fulbuster is touching me!

"Vian, meet Bixlow, Natsu, Elfman, Jellal, and Loke." He motioned towards a huge guy with bright blue hair, a face tattoo, and a devious smirk, Gajeel's almost brother (who looked extremely confused), a large (and by that I mean muscular, not fat) boy with snow white hair and a cocky grin, another slimmer blue haired kid with, get this, ANOTHER FACE TATTOO, and finally a wild maned strawberry blonde who was wiggling his eyebrows at me.

Oh, god. OH, GOD.

You know why I completely froze up? Well, I'll give you a clue: none of the females on the team were present (but that makes sense I guess because I already know Erza and Lucy pretty well) and everyone else is an extremely attractive muscled MALE.

Did you know the hockey team showers in the same place? And basically spends their whole time together?

See, most girls would be thrilled about this. But think back – hasn't my personality indicated anything? Any contact with the opposite sex makes me:

a) nervous

b) clumsy (er than usual), and

c) generally imbecilic.

Guess what being in total contact with a whole bunch of really fit boys is going to make me do?

Oh, boy, I can hardly wait.

I'm fucked.

* * *

Questions? Comments? Concerns? **Reeevvviiieeewwwsss? ;)**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4... Yay?

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail

* * *

I squeaked. Literally squeaked. Like a mouse.

Pathetic.

"So Lockser." The leaner bluenette spoke up, looking at me with a calculating expression. "You ready for practice?"

Practice? We have to practice? NOW?

I balked. "Erm – practice?"

"That's right Via. Practice." Natsu said in a voice similar to what one could use on a small child.

I am not a small child. Do not speak to me like I'm a freak. That's what my whole family's done to me for my whole life. I'm not a freak, okay?

I'm not.

I bristled angrily. "I am not an idiot, Natsu Dragoneel, and I would prefer if you didn't speak to me in that tone."

Slow, identical smirks spread over the faces of the team members, and Gray Fulbuster sighed loudly.

"She's a feisty one." The punk one said, grinning widely. "Oh, this'll be fun."

Should I be scared? I think I should.

* * *

"…start off with twenty laps around the track, yeah?" He finished, looking at us for confirmation. Everyone nodded eagerly, and I was dimly aware of someone picking me up and towing me out the door to the track.

I'm in shock.

Does he want to kill me? I mean, sure, I may be a little…er…exuberant at times. A tad creepy, maybe. But, gods, that doesn't mean he should kill me! I'm not a bad person! WHAT HAVE I DONE TO DESERVE THIS?

This cannot be happening to me. Running? I don't do running! I don't do anything that requires freaking balance! I DON'T DO BALANCE. That's why I prefer the water! I fucking trip over my own feet. Hell, sometimes I even trip over thin air.

This might be the stupidest thing I've ever done, and that's saying a lot, because once I thought it would be amusing to help Cana trim Dean Dreyar's mustache while he slept.

I'm still serving detentions for that little stunt. And I pulled it a year ago. The old man is threatening to have me come and finish the detentions after I've graduated, actually.

Basically, I've screwed myself over royally tons of times. But none of them have been as bad as this.

I mean, honestly, I'm not built for strenuous land locked activities like this. Three laps, and I'm already dead.

That's it. I'm done here. Mavis, how could these people actually do this for fun? Are they delusional?

"Mavis, Lockser, it's only been three laps." The big one said in a shocked voice as the team stood around me. "RUN LIKE A MAN."

"Fuck off." I wheezed.

"She sounds like she's going to die." Natsu said leaning over me.

"Fuck off, asshole."

"Hey, what's going on here?" Gray joined the circle, and I sat up, breathing slowly to catch my breath.

"She just collapsed." The punk shrugged, "after three laps, too."

A ripple of amused snickers shot through the team, and I shot up, teeth gritted.

"Okay, that's it. I can't do this anymore." I said, eyes flashing.

"Lockser, you're on the hockey team. You've got to train." Gray said in a reasonable voice. Ha. Reasonable, my ass.

"But then where are Erza and Lucy?" I argued.

Gray sized me up, "they're special cases, Erza does martial arts so shes allowed to regularly skip out on conditioning days and Lucy is benched for punching Dragoneel in the face at halftime during our last game."

Still wheezing I breathed out,"I don't wanna train."

"But, Lockser, see, that's the thing – you want to be on the hockey team, you've sort of got to train." He said.

"But what if I don't want to be on the hockey team?"

"I know you want to be on the team." He said confidently.

You don't know jackshit about me, Gray Fulbuster." I walked up to him, and he raised his eyebrows.

"I make it a point to know everything I can about my team members, actually." He said coolly.

"Yeah?" I shot back. "What's my name, then?"

"Vian Lockser." He stated smugly.

"Wrong." I said loudly. "My name is not fucking Vian. Vian's a boy's name, you ass! My name is Juvia. JUVIA. Repeat after me: jew – vee – ahhhhh. Juvia Lockser."

Since they are all imbecilic, they actually droned my name out, Gray Fulbuster looking decidedly shocked as he did so.

They sound like androids. How amusing.

"Secondly, I am not dating Gajeel Redfox." I said, and his mouth opened a bit.

"But you said –"

"I say stupid things." I cut across calmly. "But I would never date Gajeel. He's my cousin."

"He's your cousin?" Gray asked in disbelief.

I nodded tiredly.

"Um. Wow." Gray, still looking shocked. "Why didn't you ever try to correct me?"

"No one ever let me!" I cried, throwing my hands up. "No one ever lets me say anything. I just stumble through life, making stupid decision after stupid decision, which brings me to point three – I can't skate. I have absolutely no fucking idea how to use a stick, play hockey, or even ice skate."

By this time, the whole team looked as though Professor Babasaama had appeared and expressed her innate desire to pole dance for the world.

ACK! MENTAL IMAGES! BANISH THE MENTAL IMAGES!

I shouldn't think. Like, ever.

"So, I'm really sorry, but I shouldn't be on the team," I finished calmly. With that impressive display of normalness (this is a big step for me!), I turned around to leave. And that's when Gray Fulbuster had to open his fucking mouth and completely ruin my life.

"But you can't just go! You have to stay! Please stay, Juvia."

_Please stay, Juvia._

Why does my name have to sound like music when it comes out of his mouth? WHY? Why me?

I sighed as my will crumbled into dust around my feet. "I fucking hate you Gray Fulbuster."

"We'll make you the best damn hockey player in Fiore, JEW-VEE-AH!" The punk declared cheerfully, slinging an arm around my shoulders.

Yeah, okay. That's possible.

"Oh, yay."

This is just fan-freaking-tastic.

* * *

"Just take me now, Zeref! Save me from this misery-fest I call life! Save me!" I moaned dramatically from my position on the ground in the middle of the track.

Yes, I am aware that I am utterly pathetic; there is no need to remind me of the fact.

Seriously. Shut up.

"You've been running for four laps." The smaller Blunet said in a shocked voice as he bent over me.

"Go away." I added, closing my eyes. "Just let me die in peace."

"Four laps, Lockser! FOUR! That's barely anything."

"So what? Three laps is a lot of running, thank you very much." I said loftily.

Fuck you Blue.

"Fuck you, Blue."

Yes, I repeat my exact thoughts many times. Yes, I know that it's redundant. Yes, you will learn to get used to it. Yes, I will continue to do it.

"What did you call me?" He asked incredulously.

Crap.

"Er… Tattoo." I invented quickly.

Insert: mental slap.

"What?"

"Okay, I have no fucking idea what your name is, so I called you Blue, alright?" I finally said, too tired to wrack my brains and come up with an excuse of some sort.

Fact: I come up with shit cover stories. Though I bet you already knew that (let's go back to that time when I started rambling about Gray being Lucy's favorite, shall we? Exactly.)

"My name is Jellal. Jellal Fernandes." Blue said in a slow voice.

"Don't bother telling me. I'll forget either way." I mumbled, pushing myself into a sitting position.

"It's not that hard to remember!"

"I'm shit at names."

"Your name is Juvia."

"So? I'm not the one who named myself." That would be my potentially insane and rather freakish monster of a mother.

I looked around. Blue was the only one who was nice enough to stay behind and try to help me. The rest of the team was currently running laps around us, occasionally sniggering at my current state of extreme pathetic-ness.

Asses.

"That doesn't make any sense." Blue finally said.

"Your face doesn't make any sense." I retaliated, rubbing my shins rather regretfully.

"…that really doesn't make any sense."

This kid is so daft.

"It's a good thing you're an attractive hockey player, Blue." I sighed, standing up and ruffling his hair in a demeaning manner. I winced slightly as the weight fell on my poor, poor legs.

Gray Fulbuster is a leg murderer. He's going to hell.

Oh my god, I'm also going to hell! This means we were meant to be! I should tell him that. And then we can get married. And have three children and a dog, maybe. I think I'll name the dog… er, I'll come up with that someday.

I am shit at names, after all.

"It's Jellal." He said.

"Give it up, Blue." I sang as I stretched a little. Apparently, stretching makes you look like you know what you're doing. Even though I clearly have no clue what I'm doing, if I stretch, it'll make me look all athletic and stuff.

Because, you know, being on the school hockey team requires you to be all athletic and stuff.

I feel so athletic and stuff. How special.

"Hey." He finally grinned. "What do you call the rest of them?"

I see he's finally resigned to the fact that I will continue to blatantly ignore their birth names and call them by the names that my (rather scary) imagination has come up with.

Smart of him.

"The Burly One." I pointed at The Burly One, whose muscles pumped as he sprinted down.

"That one's The Punk." The larger bluente shot us a wary grin when he saw me pointing at him, and I smiled back innocently, waving a little.

"The Flirt" I said nodding my head at the bored looking blonde.

"And then Natsu and Gray." I shrugged, looking at the two rivals, who seemed to be playing 'who can run faster'. They were both currently an attractive shade of tomato red.

Oh, wow. Look at Gray run. His hair whips away from his face in the wind, kind of like a black halo of black fire, undulating and swishing around like it has a life of its own. His blue eyes are glittering from the wind as well, deep pools of everlasting navy, just waiting for someone (read: me) to sink into them. And his legs, strong and powerful. He looks like a cheetah. An attractive cheetah with a fantastic ass that looks even more fantastic when he runs.

I think I'm drooling. Mavis, I really hope not.

"Aha." Blue said in an all-knowing voice, a smirk growing on his face when I finally tore my eyes away from Gray.

"Aha…?" I asked warily.

He smirked wider. "Aha. You like Gray."

I blinked at him. And then I blinked again.

And then I turned around and started running away from him as fast as I could.

Don't ask me why. I have no idea. At the time, it seemed like a great idea, running away from Blue. Then again, my definition of 'great idea' also includes trying out for a hockey team when it's clear that I can't even play the fucking sport, so that's not saying a lot.

Either way, I thought it was a stroke of pure brilliancy to start running away whilst looking back over my shoulder to check if Blue was running after me or not.

Did you know that humans only have eyes on the front of their face? So, if the front of their face is turned towards the back, guess what's watching the front?

That's right. Nothing.

And of course, judging by my level of luck, who do I crash into and then land on top of?

Of course it would be Gray Fulbuster. And of course I would elbow his family jewels right in the process.

Why should life be easy?

* * *

thanks so much for reading and as always, reviews make my day :D

Cheers


	5. Chapter 5

Chapta FIVE

**So if you like this here story and haven't read Passion Is Technically Passion yet I do insist you scoot along over there now that the story is finished and tell me what you think if you already haven't, I'm still awfully new and really appreciate any and all input! Thanks you guys Cheers!**

* * *

I definitely believe in karma and reincarnation. I mean, what else could explain my terrible luck? Clearly, I must have been, like, Hitler in my past birth, and all that bad karma is coming back to me now.

This is unfair. Completely and totally unfair.

"I am going to kill Gajeel Redfox!"

I looked up from the essay that I was glaring at, and saw that Levy had stormed in… with bright pink hair.

Holy crap.

Okay, I take it back. She must have been Hitler. I was just a Nazi.

Because, honestly, even my luck isn't that bad.

"What happened to you?" I asked her blankly as she stomped her way to the mirror and let out a frustrated scream at the sight of her cotton candy colored locks plastered to her head.

"Your ass of a cousin happened." She snarled. "I wish I could ask your Uncle and Aunt why they didn't use a fucking condom. Then they wouldn't have infested the earth with that piece of shit."

I just choked on my own spit.

Lovely. This just proves that even I'm out to get me, along with the rest of the world. Just fucking fantastic.

"Pink!" Levy was fuming, completely oblivious to the fact that I was currently hacking up a lung like some sort of chain smoker. "He turned used freaking pink paint. Of all the colors, he just has to choose – fucking – pink."

Oh, yeah. Levy sort of has a problem with the color pink. Like, she utterly abhors it. I honestly have absolutely no clue why. Levy is simply weird that way, and I have taught myself to just ignore her quirks and be resigned to the fact that I have surrounded myself with utter loons.

Though, judging by the state that my brain is at right now, I really shouldn't be talking. I'm sort of the Queen Loon.

"Pink! Pink! Oh, he's dead!"

I watched Levy spaz with mild curiosity, wondering why she didn't just save herself the blood pressure pills and, you know, wash it out.

"Can't you just wash it out?" I asked her.

There was silence while she gazed at me in the mirror.

"Well. Yes."

I slapped a hand to my face.

You know it's a sad day when Juvia Lockser makes more sense than you do.

* * *

"What's wrong with you?" I demanded as soon as I saw the mass of black hair sticking up from behind a book.

Gajeel grunted putting the book down, an innocent look spread across his features.

"You know what I'm talking about." I narrowed my eyes at him and pulled the chair away from the table to take a seat. Gajeel quickly picked up the book and hid behind it again.

"Actually, I have no idea what you're talking about." He lied.

"Gajeel, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Don't lie to me." I narrowed my eyes further.

"What? Pink Hair?" He blurted in a guilty voice.

I looked at him. "You're an idiot."

He smirked. "Actually, I'm pretty brilliant."

"You do know that she can just wash it out, right?" I asked him.

A thoughtful look crossed over his features. "Fuck."

I threw my hands up in the air. "Why am I the only one who makes sense around here? What's wrong with you people?"

He sat back and ruffled his hair, yawning loudly. "How was practice?"

I scowled. "Don't change the subject on me, Gajeel. You're not going to get away with turning my friend's hair pink, you know."

He leaned back in his chair, "But it was so funny, you should have seen the shrimps face! I just couldn't resist after seeing how bunny girl reacted to Cancer's little prank with the red dye." Snickering at the memory he didn't even wince as I cuffed him on the back of his head.

I groaned "Never mind, and for the record practice sucked." I tacked on a deploring sigh at the end.

He sat forward, suddenly interested. "What happened?" He asked eagerly, his eyes glinting.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "You're not getting any Hockey secrets out of me, Gajeel."

I would have to understand them to tell people about them, which is something that I definitely don't do. Anything Hockey-related goes right over my head, to be perfectly honest.

And yet, I still tried out for the team.

If you look in the dictionary, there will be a picture of me under the word 'idiot'. It will also be under the pictures of 'hopeless' and 'crazy'.

He rolled his eyes. "Phantom's team kicked your asses anyway."

"Actually, I do believe the Fairies won our last match."

I turned around, surprised, to see that Jellal was standing behind me at the table, his bag slung over his shoulder and a challenging eyebrow raised at Gajeel.

"Who're the fuck are you?" Gajeel asked rudely. I kicked his leg under the table.

I missed. And hit the table instead.

Ow.

"Gajeel, this is Blu- er…Jellal?" I looked at Blue for confirmation, and he sent me a nod, looking quite proud of me. "This is Jellal." I continued happily. "Jellal…er…Something-Or-Other, but honestly, it doesn't matter. He's on the hockey team."

Gajeel' eyes were slits. He nodded jerkily. "Ah."

"Yeah." I said awkwardly, clearing my throat and inching slowly under the table as Gajeel and Jellal continued to have an eye-war.

I don't want to get in the middle of that. What if I get hurt in the process or something? I mean, of course that would happen to me.

"Just so you know, you're going down." Gajeel informed Jellal in a menacing voice. I sent a quick prayer to the gods above, glad that I was safely under the table and not in their line of fire.

Jellal snorted. "The phantom's team sucks ass. I'd like to see you try."

Gajeel laughed. "I wouldn't be talking. At least their players knows how to play hockey."

It's true. The phantom's team was looking good this year and actually had all permanent upperclassman pla– HEY! Gajeel just insulted me!

My mouth dropped open in outrage, and I jabbed his leg as hard as I could.

"Excuse me!" I said loudly. "I'm sitting right here!"

"Well, Via, face it. You do sort of suck." Gajeel's face appeared underneath the table and he sent me a shrug and a 'what-can-you-do' sort of facial expression.

Oh, no he didn't.

"They're going down." I snarled, crawling out from under the table. No one was surprised to see me emerge, which slightly worried me.

Apparently, I'm the type of girl who can climb underneath tables and no one would be concerned about her sanity.

Lovely.

"Aw, come on, Via –" Gajeel backtracked.

"You can't just insult me like that and expect me to take it!" I said, outraged. "I mean, I do actually have a sense of pride, you know!"

Jellal suddenly looked slightly frightened at our family spat.

Gajeel sighed loudly. "Juvia, I was only –"

"Joking? Aren't you always?" I interjected. "What about when you painted my friend's hair bright pink? Was that another 'joke'? Well, I'll have you know that it was not funny. You're going to give her hypertension or something! And then what if she dies?! Then it's on your karma record, and you really can't risk it at this point because, remember you were the one who forced our old Sitter's boyfriend to cry like a baby? That totally must have killed –"

"Juvia, stop talking." Gajeel said, covering my mouth with his hand. I made an indignant squeaking sound and glared at him.

"I'm sorry." He continued. "I didn't mean to insult you."

I pulled his hand away. "The fairies are still gonna kick everyone's asses this year."

With that, I turned on my heel and stormed impressively out of the library…okay, well, I came back in three seconds to get my books, but it was impressive up until then, okay?

Shut up. This is a big accomplishment for me.

* * *

"You're actually serious?"

I turned around to shoot a scathing glare over my shoulder. "No, I'm just out here in the fucking cold for funsies."

"So, let me get this straight." Natsu skated in front of me, his hands held up to stop me. I heaved an exasperated sigh and looked at him, my eyebrow raised.

Yes, the very 'eyebrow-raising' expression that I had taken all of last summer to master. It was so worth it, though.

"You want me, a defensemen, to teach you how to be a forward?" He said, his voice disbelieving.

I sighed again. Really, I worry about this kid. "No, idiot, I just want to you to teach me how to skate."

He looked blankly at me for a second. "But that's easy."

"For you, maybe!" I cried, waving my hands around and accidentally smacking him in the chest. "It's not easy for me! I can barely stay upright!"

There was another silence while he gazed at me.

"…so, why are you asking me, again?" He asked.

I wonder what his IQ is. I'm willing to bet that it doesn't even reach double digits.

"Because Natsu, you're the only one I sort of trust!" I said, exasperated. Mavis, do I have to explain everything to him?!

"You don't trust Gray?" His voice was skeptical.

"I make a fool out of myself in front of Gray." I replied calmly.

"…you sort of make a fool out of yourself in front of everyone."

If this kid wasn't about to help me, I probably would have decked him at this point.

Must. Restrain. From. Strangling. Imbecilic. Hockey. Dude.

My jaw locked. "Okay, let me rephrase: I make more of a fool out of myself in front of Gray."

"Because you llllllllike him."

I shot Natsu another sharp glare. "Yes."

I dare him to say something. Go on, say something. I'll kill you dead, fool.

That's right. Kill him dead. I won't just kill him. I'll. Kill. Him. DEAD.

…right, I think you understand now.

"Okay," He shrugged. "I'll help you."

I blinked at him. "Wait – you will?"

"Yeah," He shrugged again.

"But…why?"

I mean, I was fully prepared to threaten him with painful death/possible castration, but I honestly didn't think he was actually going to agree.

"You and Gajeel are really close, and if you have his stamp of approval it's good enough for me." He smiled crookedly at me. "I think you'll be good for the team. I also really do want to kick Phantom's asses."

I grinned. "Alright, then. Let's start practicing, shall we?"

Natsu is my new favorite hockey player.

Right after Gray. And Gajeel. And Lucy and Erza are up there too….

…alright, Natsu is my third favorite hockey player, and my only hockey player that I am not in love with/related to.

Same difference, really.

"Oi, what're you guys doing out here?"

I turned around, and realized that, during my painful explaining session with Natsu, the punk one and Jellal (right?) had managed to sneak up on us and the punk looked eager to join in on the fun.

I tossed him a glare that would be sure to induce blood-pounding fear. "Nothing."

The punk looked at me, his head cocking to his side and an amused expression splaying across his face.

I'm getting the vibe that he's not the least bit intimidated by my Glare of Death. Curses.

"Hey, are you practicing?" He continued.

"No," I said hastily. "We're...uh – um…cerberus…hunting…?" The end of the sentence trailed off in a questioning voice as I winced at my pathetic excuse. I think I should take this time to repeat:

I am shit at cover stories.

"What the fuck is a cerberus?" Natsu demanded, and I elbowed him in the stomach as viciously as I could.

"You know…" I said obviously, flicking my eyes to the Blunet who was grinning widely at us and his rather bored looking buddy.

He continued to look confused. "Er…no, I don't."

I groaned and threw my head back. "You're pathetic, Natsu."

"Alright, here's the deal," I snapped. "Natsu – you stay here. Uh punk guy, Jellal– go away."

"Excuse me?" The whatshisface asked, incensed.

"Don't bother telling me what your name is. It won't make a shred of difference to me. Either stay here and teach me how to skate or get your overly muscular ass out of the rink before I have a full-blown spazzer and completely freak out on the two of you." I said furiously.

They all continued to gaze vacantly at me as though I had suddenly sprouted a third eye and webbed feet.

Holy Mavis, I have acquainted myself with utter baboons.

"Hello?" I snapped my fingers at them impatiently. "Are you daft, or what?"

"Dude," Face tattoo said in a dazed voice. "She's feisty."

"She's still standing right here!" I fumed. "Yes, we get it: I'm fucking feisty, let's throw a party and move-the-fuck-on."

A slow smirk unfurled over his face and I took a cautious step back.

"I like feisty." He continued in a low voice, raising a suggestive eyebrow at me.

That's about when I completely lost it and screamed like there was no fucking tomorrow.

"Ack!" The three covered their eyes as I continued to scream bloody murder.

"Mavis, I'm not that repulsive!" The punk one cried in an affronted manner. "I'm fucking hot!"

"I'm – not – fucking – interested!" I shrieked, punctuating each word with a blow to his chest. He seemed completely unaffected by my punches. More curses.

"Okay, jeez!" He put his hands up in surrender. "If you're more interested in getting if off with that Gajeel guy, it's completely fine with me, no need to get all feisty –"

"Dumbass." Natsu muttered, whacking the punk on the back of his head while I swelled in rage.

Explosion in three…two…

"I AM NOT FUCKING DATING GAJEEL!" I thundered. All three of them literally stepped back and cowered under my rage.

That's right. I, Juvia Lockser, made three strong hockey players cower. Feel free to shower me with congratulatory gifts.

Seriously. I like assorted chocolates.

"HE'S MY FUCKING COUSIN!" I continued. The punk's eyes, if possible, widened even further. "AND NOT JUST A COUSIN; HE'S A FIRST COUSIN AND WE DON'T BELIEVE IN FUCKING INCEST!"

"Holy Light Mage Mavis." The Blunet said faintly as I stepped back and seethed with silent rage, my fists curled up at my sides. "She's a fireball."

"Plus, she's interested in Gray." Natsu added.

My mouth dropped open and I gaped at him in sheer outrage. Does he not understand the concept of 'secret'?!

"Damnit." The punk muttered. "Fucking Gray always gets the best girls." Jellal just blinked tiredly.

"I – he – you weren't supposed to tell, dumbshit!" I cried, turning to Natsu.

"I wasn't?" His brow furrowed in confusion. "You never said –"

"It was implied!" I cried, throwing my hands up. "I don't want everyone to know!"

"So, is that why you tried out for the team?" Face tattoo asked me, his eyebrow raised.

I think I like the dumb kid more.

"Er…" I said nervously.

"That is why you tried out!" He declared furiously. "You don't give a shit about the rest of the fucking team, as long as precious Gray looks at you –"

"Dude," Natsu interrupted quietly while I continued to gape at the punk. "She really does care about the team; she's out here to learn how to skate, alright?"

"She – oh." Realization dawned on his face. "Right. Well. I guess I'll help."

"I already said I would." Jellal piped up

"Wait, what?" I did a double-take. "You're going to help? With what?"

A thoughtful, calculating look came across the punks face. "I'm going to help you learn how to skate."

"Somehow, I'm getting the feeling that's not all you want to do." I said in a nervous voice.

A slow smirk spread across the punk rockers mouth. "No, it's not." He drawled, clearly pleased with himself. "I'm also going to help you get Gray to notice you."

I stared at him.

And stared some more.

Why?

"But – why?" I asked blankly.

"Because I'm a total sap when it comes to this 'unrequited love' thing. Also because I sort of like you." The punk spoke in a matter-of-fact voice. "And the names Bixlow."

I stared at him again, taking in the muscles – even his muscles have muscles, I swear – the boyish look on his face, the rocker clothes, the punk hair…

He doesn't look like a poof.

"Erm…I have to ask, sorry, but…are you…you know – gay?" I asked him cautiously.

Natsu erupted into peals of delighted laughter while an outraged expression took itself up on Bixlow's face. "No! Can't a guy be hopeless romantic without being labeled as a poof? What's wrong with this world?! Why must everyone be so fucking judgmental?!"

"Okay, sorry!" I said hastily, taking a step back. "I didn't mean to offend you or anything, it's just that guys normally –"

"Do you know Lisanna Strauss?" Natsu cut off. He had, it seems, finally managed to collect himself.

What does Lisanna have to do with anything? My expression must have looked blank and confused, because Natsu went on, "You know…Strauss…blonde hair…long legs…nice ass…Elfmans little sister…– come on, you know who I'm talking about, here!"

"What does Lisanna have to do with this?" I asked.

"He's in love with her." Natsu jerked his head towards the blunet , who looked completely unabashed. Instead, he was nodding eagerly.

"Like, desperately." He declared proudly. "I've been in love with her ever since she kicked my ass on the rink two years ago."

"Lemme guess – she doesn't know who the fuck you are." I said in a sympathetic voice.

"Nailed it." Natsu laughed.

"Alright." I said in a business-like voice. "This is what we do. You three will teach me how to play – oh, before I come up with the game plan, would you like to impart a secret love of yours, Natsu, Jellal?"

"Michelle Lobster." Natsu piped up, grinning in a roguish way.

I ground my palm into my forehead. "You idiot – everyone's in love with Michelle Lobster. She's the biggest slut the school has to offer. Do you have, you know…an actual decent person in mind?"

He scratched the back of his head. "Er – you'll make fun of me."

I looked at him. "Dude," I said dryly. "You're talking to the girl with mental issues and the bloke whose crushee doesn't know he exists. You seriously think we'll make fun of you?"

He cleared his throat. "Er…you know Lucy Heartfilia right?" He winced slightly as this came out.

I grinned "Of course I do you and Lucy... whoa you guys would be perfect together now that I think about it!"

"Have you ever actually seen them near each other?" Bixslow laughed.

"She hates me." Natsu said in a despondent voice. "A lot."

I winced. "Er – why?"

"I, erm…sort of used to…uhhh…tormentherwhenwewerelittle." Natsu said in a rush, scratching the back of his head as he looked at the ground.

I sighed. "You used to torment her when you were little? May I ask why?"

"I sort of…kind of – just a little, you know – didn't like her too much." He continued.

I sighed again. "And now you've changed your mind."

"Completely." He nodded. "I just – don't know how to get her to notice. She somehow still believes that I hate her just as much as she hates me."

Mavis, this hockey team sure is a dramatic bunch. I seriously didn't know dudes could really be this confusing.

This has opened up a whole new world for me. Yippee.

"Awww," The Bixlow ruffled Natsu's hair with a loud guffaw. "Little Flamebrain's gone and turned himself into a hopeless romantic right along with me!"

"Shut up, man." Natsu shoved him away. "I knew I shouldn't have told you. I knew you'd make fun of me or some –"

"Actually, I think it's adorable." I declared.

Natsu blinked at me. "You do?"

"I do. And we're going to add your agenda in our little game-plan." I smiled conspiratorially.

"Awesome! I love plans." Bixlow rubbed his hands together eagerly. "Take it away, Lockser. Let's hear it."

"Jellal?" I asked expectantly.

He slowly looked up and cleared his throat.

"Er…you know Erza Scarlet right?" He winced slightly as this came out.

I blinked. "The quiet girl in my dorm whose on the hockey team with us?"

"With the straight red hair?" The Bixlow added.

"And the pretty brown eyes?"

"YES, that one." Blue cut off loudly before Bixlow could add another sentence in. "I just…find her sort of…fascinating, you know? She's got sort of that – what do you call it…"

"Quiet beauty?" I offered, a soft smile spreading across my face. With her shimmery scarlet hair, dark brown eyes and unusually stoic demeanor, Erza Scarlet was the type of girl who, if you didn't look closely enough, could go completely unnoticed in that way

Apparently, Jellal took the time to notice.

"Yes," He said softly. "Quiet beauty."

"Alright. Stage One: you will teach me how to skate." I said. "That's the easiest part of the plan, sadly. And I can't skate. Whatsoever."

"Oh, yay." Natsu muttered.

I glared at him. "Ahem. Stage two: We change Natsu outward attitude towards the ever-so-beautiful Lucy Heartfilia and somehow make her tolerate him. At the same time, I shall befriend Erza Scarlet and drag her into the fun-fest that is me and Levy's friendship. Then I shall introduce her to Jellal slyly slip away, and they can have a romantic talk and proclaim their everlasting and undying love for each other. And Lastly we shall woo Lisanna AFTER we make it clear Bixlow exists, I don't have much on that one yet, it's gonna be tricky."

"…dude." The Natsu said in a thoroughly awed voice. "You're a genius."

I smirked proudly. "Oh, I know. Feel free to give me assorted chocolates and such."

"If this works." He promised.

Yes! Assorted chocolates! SCORE!

"Wait…" Jellal piped up. He seemed to be utterly confused. "What about you and Gray?"

I smiled and shrugged. "It doesn't matter right now. It'll work out in between, hopefully."

All of them looked deeply impressed. "Wow…thanks." Natsu said. "That's possibly the most selfless thing anyone's ever done for me."

"That's me!" I grinned. "Now, show me how to skate."


	6. Chapter 6

"Okay, pretend that I'm Luce." I said, looking expectantly at Natsu. He stared blankly at me.

Perhaps he hasn't understood the words coming out of my mouth. Let me try again.

"Okay, pretend that I am Lucy." I said in a loud, clear voice. Now both Natsu and Bixlow were gazing vacantly at me.

(Sorry about this. They're a little slow. Pucks to the head, you know. Lots of brain damage.)

"…but you're not." The Natsu said, clearly confused.

"Gee, nothing gets by you," I snapped sarcastically. "I said pretend."

"But…why?" Natsu continued.

I thought he was smart. Apparently, I was sadly misinformed.

I have a theory: all hockey dudes are stupid. See, I even have a list to prove it!

Proof that hockey playing dudes are Dumber than Fuck:

1) Gajeel Redfox – my dear cousin believes that it is considered genius to paint someone's hair pink (despite the fact that said person can just wash it out). He also dates only dumb, blonde bimbos when it's clearer than mineral water that he's pining after my friend.

2) Jellal – possibly the most clueless person that I have ever met. I don't think I even need to go into this.

3) Natsu – used to torment the girl that he is now in love with. Gee, what a charmer.

4) Bixlow – not even going to go into this one. The weird is practically tangible.

5) Elfman – not enough information. Will get back to you on this.

6) Gray Fulbuster – although he is perfect, beautiful, charming, funny, witty, clever, muscular, attractive, smart, perfect, hot, friendly – erm, I think you understand now – he has one major flaw: he doesn't realize that I'm head over heels in love with him.

"Hello? Juvia? Lockser? Via? Vian? HELLO?"

I blinked as the fingers continued to snap under my nose, and realized, with a start, that while I was constructing my brilliant mental list, time had progressed and both of the hockey players were trying to shake me awake from my ADD-induced haze.

"What?" I snapped, shoving the hand away. "I'm awake, calm yourselves."

"Don't do that!" Natsu said, his eyes large.

"Do what?" I asked.

"Stare off into space for long periods of time – we thought you'd died or something!" Bixlow cried.

I stared at them.

"Did you check for a pulse?"

Blank stares.

Of course not.

Once again – why is the crazy person the only one who makes sense around here?!

* * *

"Hey, move over, I can't see!"

"Stop elbowing me, woman, that–"

"I'm not elbowing you, I just want you to move –"

"Ack, Lockser! Your hair just got in my mouth –"

"I don't care; move the fuck over – !"

"Now I can't see!"

"You're bigger than I am, you'll – Hey! What are you doing?!"

"Shut up, everyone will be able to hear us!" With that, Bixlow pulled me back onto his lap and proceeded to breath heavily in my ear as he attempted to gaze over my shoulder at the scene currently unfolding in front of us.

I mean, we didn't really have to squeeze ourselves into the convenient little niche behind this wonderfully placed bookshelf, but we thought we might as well just go all out.

This goes to prove that Bixlow and I are both fucking idiots who should never be allowed to think again.

"Shh," He reminded me unnecessarily as Natsu nervously approached Lucy.

"I am fucking shh-ing, you jerk!" I hissed indignantly. He poked my side to get to shut up once again – I huffed angrily – and pressed his eye closer to the gap between encyclopedias.

I'll freely admit it – we're nosy stalkers.

Don't judge us.

We need to know if all of our hard work has come to fruition. You see, Natsu took three hours to practice saying a simple 'hello' to Lucy and walking past her without spazzing.

Soon learning that Natsu couldn't stay within ten feet of Lucy for over a minute without saying something rude/stupid/offensive. Apparently, she brought out the 'total douche' characteristics in him, and he was having difficulties controlling them around her.

Ergo, we spent three hours after school making sure that Natsu wouldn't say anything dumb. He can't mess this up – there's no way. I mean, even I have his conversation memorized at this point:

Hey, Lucy, how's it going? Listen, I just wanted to formally apologize for being a ass. Maybe we can, you know…possibly be friends or something?

Yes, that took him three hours to master.

It's okay, though. After this, it'll all be worth it, I just know.

"Er…" Natsu gulped, ran his hand through his hair, took a deep breath, and hesitantly reached out to tap Lucy's shoulder. She was talking animatedly to a friend, and her face was still open and friendly as she turned around.

Then she caught sight of him, and her expression froze. Then he froze.

I cursed loudly. Bixlow poked me.

And Natsu and Lucy looked at each other.

"Hi?" Natsu finally said timidly. Lucy raised an eyebrow.

Oh, dear.

"Can I help you?" She said in a cold voice dripping with disdain. The way she said it, she might as well have been telling him that she loathed him with every inch of her being.

Natsu swallowed again and worked to smile – the result was a mix between a grimace and a look of constipation.

"Er…I was…um…" He stuttered.

This isn't part of the script! I wanted to yell at him. Come on, you rehearsed this for hours!

"…you were…um…" She prompted, indicating for him to go on.

He swallowed thickly and looked desperately around the room. "Er…"

Real smooth, buddy. Real smooth.

Lucy sighed exasperatedly. "Look, if you're just going to just waste my time by standing there and stuttering at me, you might as well –"

"You're pretty."

I clapped a hand over my mouth. Oh Mavis.

And of course, Natsu just has to make it worse by inserting an extremely creepy smile. Holy god dude we know you have a fabulous set of pearly white teeth; you don't need to strain to show them all to her! And must you have your eyes open so wide?

This is a disaster.

"What?" Lucy asked.

Natsu then proceeded to slap himself across the face. He, honest to god, slapped himself across the face. His own hand. Slapping his own face.

What the fuck is wrong with him?

"Okay," He said, taking a deep breath and rotating his head a little, just like this was a challenging new drill that he had to master. "Okay. Let's start over. Right. You know what to say, Natsu, you've got it all down. Come on, man. You're not just good-looking – you're downright sexy. Think sexy. Think sexy. Alright, let's do this thing."

And now he is talking to himself.

I worry.

Apparently, so does Lucy as she is currently staring at him in a very appalled manner.

"HiI'mNatsuwhat'syourname?!" He asked enthusiastically, his face back to its former creepiness.

What. Is. He. Doing.

"Wait – no, that was the wrong one!" He cried desperately, running his hands through his hair. "I was supposed to say something else; I had it fucking memorized, for crying out loud – why can't I remember…"

Lucy was slowly inching away from him, fright and shock showing clearly on her face. He continued muttering under his breath, trying to figure out what to say next. Meanwhile, my eyes were wide and frozen in complete horror, while Bixlow tried not to pee himself in laughter. The shelf was wobbling dangerously, ready to fall at any second, but I couldn't tear my eyes away from the utterly pathetic scene in front of me.

Maybe I'm a masochist and just enjoy putting myself through pain. That would explain a lot. Like being in love with Gray, who is way out of my league, or…or…oh, I have a good one! Or trying out for the fucking hockey team even though I can't play.

"Aha!" Natsu said in triumph. "I remember now – hey, where are you going?" His eyes were large and worried as he looked at Lucy, who was no longer even attempting to be discreet about the fact that she was trying to get the hell away from him.

"I don't know what is wrong with you," She said in a low voice, shaking her head back and forth, blond hair whipping around. "But seriously – keep me out of it."

"No – come back –!" He cried, extending his hand towards her to hold her back. Looking completely repulsed, she promptly turned around and started running up library staircase, him trailing desolately after her.

"Lucy – no, come on, at least hear me out – I like you! I like you! Come back! Don't walk away from me! I like you!" He was on the ground at this point, his hands thrown upwards in her direction.

He looks like a scene from a shitty old romance movie.

"Just stay away from me, you freak!" Was her loving response before she slammed the door shut.

Natsu hung his head, and, at the same time, Bixlow and I managed to knock over a bookshelf while scrambling out of our hiding place

As the dust cleared away, all eyes were on me.

Crap.

* * *

"Would you care to explain yourselves?"

I sighed and nibbled on my lower lip, keeping my eyes lowered at the floor. Beside me on either side, both Bixlow and Natsu were also hunched down, keeping silent save from a sigh from Natsu. Together we were the picture perfect scene of 'getting in serious trouble'.

I glanced up, and, upon receiving the full glare of Poluchka, promptly winced and lowered my eyes to the floor again. Mavis.

"Skipping class, harassing another student, and on top of all that, destroying the library – what were you thinking?"

"Well, when you put it that way, professor, it sounds a lot worse." Natsu pointed out reasonably.

Poluchka shot him another sharp glare. "You will be quiet, Mr. Dragoneel."

There was another silence during which she looked expectantly at us. When we all failed to speak, she sighed angrily, "Well?"

"I thought you said we weren't supposed to talk." Bixlow said, his voice laced with clear innocence. Poluchka's nostrils flared; a sure sign of an impending explosion.

"Professor – we really weren't trying to do those things." I quickly said in a soothing voice before she lost her cool and went all psycho-old-lady on us. I know for a fact that she keeps a bag of cat food in her office purely to beat students with it when she gets really pissed at them.

…okay, I heard it from Gajeel, who, I will admit, isn't the most reliable source. But, honestly, can't you just see that happening in your head?

Oh, shit.

Don't laugh, don't laugh, don't laugh, don't laugh, don't laugh!

"Well, then what exactly were you trying to do?" She raised a sharp, angular pink eyebrow, and the amusing picture vanished clear from my mind.

I gulped. "Erm – we were, uh…"

"They were helping me, Professor." Natsu piped up. All three of us turned around to look at him.

"Helping you?" She echoed. "With what, exactly?"

'ABORT!' I mouthed at Natsu behind her back. 'WE GO DOWN TOGETHER, OR NOT AT ALL! SHUT UP NOW!'

He didn't seem to comprehend a word that I was mouthing.

Note to self: teach disciples to understand lip-speak. Will make life much easier.

"They were helping me woo Lucy Heartfilia." Natsu smiled dreamily.

Seriously, dude – woo? What is this, The Middle Ages?

Poluchka stared at him. "And destroying the library was supposed to help with that, how…?"

"I messed up." Natsu said deploringly. "I was supposed to be smart and sexy and charming and sexy and handsome and sexy – did I mention I was supposed to be really sexy?"

"You might have mentioned it, yes." She said dryly.

"Instead, he ended up awkward, creepy and…creepy." I sighed. "Now we'll have to re-think the plan and everything."

"You have a plan." Poluchka said flatly.

"Yeah!" Bixlow piped up. "It's a great plan; it's going to help us all win over the loves of our lives!"

She stared at him for a beat.

"…just exactly how does this plan tie into destroying the library, again?"

We're so stupid, we just stumped Poluchka. We should get an award.

"It doesn't." The Punk explained patiently, like she was the mental one here instead the three of us. "That was a mistake. I was laughing at hothead here and so I bumped into the shelf – I didn't mean to push it over – it sort of just fell down. We'll fix it if you want."

She sighed and rubbed her temples slowly. "Should have retired years ago…getting too old for this…" She muttered under her breath. The three of us exchanged glances.

"You three will fix the shelf. And formally write a letter of apology to Miss. Heartfilla." She decided.

…seriously? No detention?

"Now please leave before I give you detention." She continued in her weary voice. We were gone before she could even finish the sentence.

* * *

"What do you mean, you can't come to practice on Friday?"

I stared at him. "…what part of that sentence don't you understand?"

I mean, I thought I was being pretty clear with him, but since I usually turn into a puddle of goo whenever he's around, I might not have spoken English.

Gray ran his hand through his hair in frustration, "all three of you?"

The three of us nodded in unison. I was the only one who managed to look abashed.

"Why exactly were you behind a bookshelf?" Gray asked us, irritation still clear in his voice.

I exchanged a panicked glance with Natsu. "Er…we were just…um…fairy…hunting." I invented wildly. "We followed a couple of fairies into the mmmphshnrgle." Natsu quickly covered my mouth with his hand before I could get out another idiotic word.

"Bixlow was hungry and we got lost." Natsu said, and to my immense surprise, Gray nodded understandingly.

Dude.

How come he can lie and I can't?! What kind of injustice is this? Why did Zeref do this to me? Why am I the poor shmuck stuck with the suckiest genes in the human gene pool?!

This is so unfair. My life is crap.

"So…you pushed over the bookshelf." Gray confirmed, amusement splaying across his beautiful face.

"No – Bixlow pushed over the bookself." Natsu said. His hand was still covering my mouth, and I was finding it rather difficult to breathe, something that I tried to make known by repeatedly stepping on Natsu's foot and scrabbling wildly at his hand.

Nothing happened.

Why am I such a failure? Why can't anything ever be easy for me?!

"Why?"

What is this? Twenty questions? Meanwhile, I'm struggling just to breathe.

"Mavis knows." Natsu shrugged. I elbowed him in the ribs, but only managed to create a large bruise on my arm.

Note to self: work out.

Gray sighed. "Well, guess we'll have to switch practice to Saturday"

I'm starting to get lightheaded. Black spots are appearing in my vision – that's not normal, is it? I swear I am going to kill Natsu with my bare hands.

…after I work out.

"That's alright with…" The rest of Natsu's sentence drowned out in a wave of black as I finally fainted due to severe lack of oxygen.

And I repeat: MY LIFE IS CRAP.

* * *

there you all goooooooo

kinda just cranked this out and gave it a quick once over, don't be too harsh k?


	7. Chapter 7

Hi guys! Sorry this was late, I'll just be honest and tell you I don't really have much of an idea about where this storys going and I haven't really gotten much response too it which has kinda deterred the enthusiasm I have for writing...

**If you guys have anything to tell me about it or my writing please please PLEASE don't hesitate to tell me in a review a pm or even on tumblr I'm dying to hear anything you have to say or any ideas you have to continue this story. Thanks a ton for reading! Cheers!**

* * *

Also as a side note I am so so so sorry for all the random stupid grammar mistakes you'll find... I don't have a beta and frankly no idea how to capture one (does bribery work?) sooooo if you have corrections feel free as haru to tell me!

* * *

"You idiot."

These were the first words that I registered once I had regained consciousness due to a lack of oxygen – induced fainting spell.

It made me wish I could just faint again.

I gurgled incoherently (great job, Juvia) as I slowly sat up, clutching at my pounding head.

"Wha' 'appaned?" I asked groggily, peering up at the boys grouped around me through my blurry vision.

"You fainted." Natsu provided unnecessarily. He looked extremely upset. "I'm really sorry."

"Idiot Flamebrain," Gray reached out and hit him again, and suddenly, it all made sense. I wasn't the idiot here – Natsu was! Gray was getting mad at Natsu for making me faint! Oh my god! He cares! He cares about me!

Holy Mavis, I might just faint again.

"S'alright." I mumbled at him, waving my hand towards him slightly. I struggled to see, holding back my jubilant cries of extreme happiness. The world tilted around me again in a whirlwind of color, and I quickly sat down before I puked all over the hockey team.

Or, actually, I could care less about puking on the hockey team. I think I'd care more if I were to puke all over the love of my life. I mean, of course I would do something like that. Better safe than sorry. I'm usually sorry, so I figured I should try and be safe for once.

Wow, I don't make any sense.

"Hey, you alright?" Someone poked my forehead, and I groaned.

"Oh, yes, I'm just happy dandy!" I spat sarcastically. "Peachy, in fact!"

"Happy dandy? Who says happy dandy?" Natsu snorted.

"You shouldn't be talking, you use the word 'woo' in normal conversation." I reminded him. He harrumphed and muttered 'whatever'

"Well, she seems alright enough to argue with Natsu," Jellal said in an amused voice.

I let out a sharp gasp as the world tilted again and a jagged arrow of pain shot through my head. Mavis, Natsu, what have you done to me?

"Dude, she looks like she's going to be sick." Bixlow sounded disgusted.

Wow Bixlow, your concern is staggering. Really, don't worry yourself too much about me.

"Alright. Nurse's office time." Gray said in a businesslike voice. I let out a sound of protest, but it quickly turned into another quick inhalation as black spots appeared in my vision again.

I swear. I am going to kill Natsu.

Die.

"Who wants to carry her there?" He continued. The babbling group of boys suddenly fell silent.

Hey! HEY! Why doesn't anyone want to carry me?! I'm not fat or anything! This is so awful. These guys are so selfish! I hope karma's a bitch to them.

"I hate you all." I moaned plaintively.

"Aw, come on guys, take one for the team!" Gray said encouragingly.

I cannot believe this. Am I really that repulsive, that no one wants to carry me?! I mean, I probably weigh less than the average five-foot-seven girl! I'm only a hundred and twenty freaking pounds! It's not that heavy! I am a danty little feather you bitches!

I think I want to cry.

Letting out a deep sigh/groan, I heaved myself to my feet and started walking unsteadily to the nurse's office.

"Forget it, I'll just go myself." I said, rubbing the heel of my hand into the side of my head. I took a couple of staggering steps towards the door, sure that I wasn't going to make it, but then someone came up behind me and lifted me effortlessly up into the air.

Gray? I thought hopefully, ready to flutter my eyelashes and go into complete 'damsel-in-distress-oh-swoon' mode.

"I was just kidding, Jew-Via-Ahh," Natsu said cheerfully, slinging me more comfortably across his arms. "Of course I'll accompany you to the nurse's office!"

Lovely.

I gave him the stink eye all the way there, but, judging by the way he was smiling self-approvingly instead of looking abashed over the fact that he wasn't Gray (it's all your fault! Why can't you be Gray?), he was under the impression that he had just done me a great personal service instead of completely ruining my day.

I really hate these people.

* * *

"How do you get yourself into these situations?" Levy sighed as she sat next to me on the cot.

I shifted uncomfortably and stared at the ceiling.

"I have shit for luck." I reminded her. God, I hate my luck. My life sucks so much.

So, instead of just letting me off after an ice pack and a nice pat on the head (a sticker? Perhaps a sticker? I do like stickers), the nurse insisted that I stay here so that I couldn't 'over-exert myself' into fainting again.

Have I ever mentioned that I absolutely despise the the nurse's office? Well, I do. I've been traumatized so many times in here that I don't even think I can count it all.

You know, this would be much less painful if I actually had visitors. So far, the only people that had bothered to make sure if I was still alive were Natsu – who dropped me off – and Levy, who, instead of pampering me with love and chocolate, had given me an hour-long lecture on personal safety.

I really need to find a new friends.

Levy pursed her lips at me – I told her she looked like Poly and she immediately stopped – and went back to reading her book, occasionally letting out a disapproving sniff.

"What?" I finally asked, after her incessant sniffing got to be too much.

"Nothing." She said in a voice that implied something. I decided not to push her.

"Fine."

"Okay, I'll tell you, no need to beg." She acquiesced, putting her book aside. I rolled my eyes. "So I uh think I might like Jet" She squeaked before I could even open my mouth and ask who.

I gazed blankly at her, "er…."

At least she doesn't like Gajeel.

"Hello? You know him, Via." Levy said.

"Wait wait wait your childhood friend? THAT Jet?"

"Yeah!" Levy gushed, her eyes lighting up. "We really grew apart but he got really cute didn't he–" She giggled. "He asked me to tutor him in Anatomy. You never know – we just might be a little too thorough." She waggled her eyes at me, and I groaned and wacked her with my pillow.

"God, Levy, you're so embarrassing!"

She laughed as I swung my pillow at her again, dodging with ease and sticking her tongue out at me.

"Well, well, well. Look who decided to drop the books and have some fun." A mocking voice floated in from the foot of my cot, and I put the pillow back behind my head, already rolling my eyes at Gajeel and his pathetic-ness.

Levy didn't seem to agree with my theory of his pathetic nature, as she was currently glaring at him rather than rolling her eyes and dismissing his comment.

"Well, well, well." She imitated in a scalding voice. "Look who decided to show up and actually act like a real cousin."

Hey, yeah! He didn't even bother to check on me before this! Ass.

"I didn't know she was in here." Gajeel said nonchalantly. "Otherwise I would have came earlier and saved her from your lecture on personal safety. How long was it this time, Via?"

"She didn't lecture me, Gajeel." I lied automatically, coming to the immediate rescue of my friend. I mean, sure, she acts like a mother sometimes, but that's nothing that Gajeel needs to worry about.

"Via, she always does. It's just another one of the services that she offers." He sneered at her, and she leered right back, rolling her eyes and straightening her headband.

"Whoa, am I sensing some sexual tension here?" Said a joking voice as another group of visitors joined my cot.

"What are you doing here?" I squawked. Did the team have to come now?

Well, I was complaining about my extreme lack of friends before this. Now I have some of the most popular people in the school grouped around me in the freaking nurses office.

"Well, excuse us for coming to visit our favorite new teammate." Bixlow put his hands up.

"So, how're you feeling?" Jellal asked.

"I'm fine!" I yelled exasperatedly in the direction of the nurse's small adjoining office. There was a distinct yell of 'no, you're not!' thrown back at me, and I stuck my tongue out at the closed door.

"Hey, Levy." Gray said – my eyes widened. Holy crap, he's here?! – and walked over to throw an arm over her shoulder, friendly and protective at the same time. He gazed steadily at Gajeel, who narrowed his eyes slightly and came closer to me, as if he had to prove that he was more overprotective of his precious cousin than Gray was of his childhood friend.

"Whoa, and a little rivalry thing going on here – this room is just brimming with tension, isn't it?" Natsu declared cheerfully and with relish, grabbing a chair and putting his feet on my bed. "Well, go on," He gestured at them with a lazy flick of his hand. "Continue with your tensions. Entertain me."

I kicked his feet off, not trying to be gentle in the least bit. "Natsu, do us all a favor and shut up, alright?"

"No can do Via. The Dragon cannot be silenced!" He declared in an extremely dorky voice. There was a beat of silence while we gazed at him in incredulous fear.

"Dude. 'The Dragon'? Really?" Jellal asked.

"Whatever Blue." Natsu said in a lofty voice, stretching out languidly. My mouth dropped open and I flung my pillow at Natsu's face.

"Excuse me! Don't use my nicknames!" I cried, affronted.

"But they're so catchy!"

"No they're not she calls me 'The Punk"

"Better then Pinky, that's what Cana calls me."

"Shut up flame brain no one wants to hear you talk"

"UP YOURS METAL MOUTH GO FUCK A SCRAP YARD"

"YOU WANNA GO ASSHOLE?"

"HELL YA BOLTS FOR BRAINS BRING IT O-"

"QUIET!"

They immediately stopped babbling over each other and looked around at me in utter shock.

"Will you two shut up! I have a killer headache, for God's sake I'm in here for a reason!" I snapped.

"Well. Someone's a little grumpy." Bixlow coughed.

"Mavis." Natsu said in a scandalized tone. "We were just conversing, no need to be a bitc–"

"Excuse me?" I asked in a frighteningly chilling tone.

Natsu suddenly looked extremely frightened. "Nothing" he squeaked out.

"Good." I smiled sweetly at him. I continued to smile serenely as they exchanged wary glances with each other. Levy and Gajeel merely looked amused, not at all surprised by my 'scary side', as Gajeel liked to put it.

"Mavis," Jellal said, sounding impressed. "You know, Lockser, you might actually just survive on this team."

"Yeah, other than your blatant lack of any physical strength –" Bixlow said.

"What he means to say is, you can really keep us in check, which is good since we're honestly just a bunch of rowdy dudes –" Natsu cut across.

"Actually, I'm pretty sure 'he' meant to say that she was severely lacking in the area of physical capacities –" Bixlow glared at Natsu.

"But that's not the point, here, is it, Bix?" Jellal inserted. "What we really just want to say is –"

"We think you'll do fine on the team." Gray cut off loudly, smiling. "Welcome to the team Lockser."

* * *

I never thought I'd see the day when I had to beg to go to detention.

"Hey, hand me that hammer, will you?"

Sighing in boredom, I held the hammer out to Natsu who flashed me a smile of thanks (I grimaced back) and proceeded to bang it into the newly built shelf, the muscles in his arms and torso rippling slightly from the movement. I rolled my eyes again – he was only trying to get Lucy to catch a glimpse of his (and I quote) 'sexy body'.

"Hey, Via, mind if I have a word?"

I jumped in surprise and looked around to see that Lucy was standing there warily, sending nervous glances up at Natsu now and then. Luckily, she had approached and spoken so quietly that he was still unaware of her added presence, and he continued to sing loudly to the song blaring on the ipod he had brought along, occasionally reaching up to wipe some sweat from his forehead and flick it at Bixlow.

He's really very mature. And charming. Clearly.

"Sure," I said, getting up and following her to the other side of the room.

"Er…" She began, glancing at the working boys again. "Listen – I have a favor to ask you."

"Shoot." I said cheerfully, glad to have some stretching space after sitting in the same uncomfortable chair for hours.

"You know your cousin? Gajeel?" She asked, her voice still sounding nervous.

"Oh, no, Lucy, I have no idea who this 'Gajeel' guy is. I mean, it's not as if I live with him or anything."

She shot me a look that clearly said 'fuck off', and I grinned at her.

"Yeah, what about him?" I asked.

"Well… I think I'm sorta into him."

YES more Gray for me.

Wait. Shit.

Lucy must have read my expression (which I'm sure looked a lot like a deer caught in the headlights of a car), because she backtracked quickly, using her talent to babble endlessly in order to relieve a situation.

The funny thing is, it never works. In fact, the situation gets even more tense.

"I mean, not too much, you know. He's just sort of attractive, like, his hair and his eyes and his body. And he can be funny I guess. Plus, he's smart, which I really like in a guy –" (Natsu's smart... i guess, I thought vaguely)" – and I just sort of like him a little. I mean, if you know he doesn't feel the same way about me then you can just forget that I said –"

"Lucy, shut up."

"Okay." She said quickly.

"Alright," I started, taking a deep breath. "You're into Gajeel. Okay. Okay."

Mavis, I sound like I'm giving her a pep talk.

"Look." I bit my lip, wondering how to put the next part nicely… "He likes Levy."

What? Why are you giving me that look? I'm tactless, remember?

She blinked. "Oh."

I shook my head quickly. "No, no! Not a lot, I mean, at the moment he's still convinced himself that he hates her, but you should have seen him when Levy was flirting with this guy in chem he looked like he wanted to punch his face out –"

"No – I get it." Lucy said, looking at me with bright eyes. "I mean, of course he likes Levy…I should have realized it before…they're always fighting…sexual tension, you know…"

"Erm." I bit my lip again. "Right."

"Okay."

"Yep."

"Alright, then, I guess I'll just…"

"I know someone else who really likes you Lucy." I blurted out before I could stop myself.

She turned around. "Sorry?"

"Er…I know another guy who really likes you."

She cocked her head thoughtfully. "Really?" There was a small smile at the edges of her mouth. I couldn't help but grin at the rush of hopefulness her expression brought for me.

I looked towards Natsu quickly. He was carefully adjusting a shelf, and I could hear him muttering about angle measures from all the way across the room.

I snorted. Nerd.

"Yeah." I grinned. "You might know him – you've known him for a long while now actually."

Her eyes brightened. "Really?"

"Yeah!" I said, now excited. "He's on our hockey team… amazing hockey player actually."

"Oh, my god!" She said excitedly. "I mean, I sort of like Gajeel, but I've always liked Loke… all along! This is perfect, Via – thanks so much!"

Wait – what?

I gazed after her in horror as she pranced away happily.

Shit. I am such a screw-up. Natsu is going to kill me.

* * *

what are your thoughts my ffrriiieennnddsss (I like to think were friends... sorry if I'm too forward i j-just had to confess *bows*) maybe with benefits? *wink* like reviews? *wink wink wiiiinnnkkk*


	8. Chapter 8

OH SHIT OH SHIT OH SHIT I forgot to mention last chapter Soooooooooooooo Loke is now on the hockey team….

I changed thinnngggssssss *whispers* sorry….

As always love you all for dealing with my stupid whims, Cheers!

* * *

I reached over to snap Natsu's mouth shut.

"Natsu, that's rude – you don't need to show the world your bagel." I said calmly, taking another sip of my tea as I nodded at Levy. She was currently ranting about my idiot jerk of a cousin, and I really couldn't be bothered to listen – I basically had her rant memorized at this point.

"Lucy – Loke – Look!" He sputtered, nudging my shoulder and pointing.

"Natsu, it's rude to point – oh, shit." My manners lesson was cut short as I caught an eyeful of the makeout session in front of me.

"Whoa, Lucy and Loke?!" Levy seemed to have finally been pulled out of her Gajeel-induced fury/brain-dead state. "Oh they're so cute together!"

I quickly stopped my gestures at Levy to 'shut the fuck up now, damnit!' as Natsu turned in his seat to glare darkly at her. He looked as though he would like nothing more than to wring Levy's skinny little neck until she took back everything she said about Lucy and Loke. But my dear, stupid friend was gazing happily at the couple in front of her, naively oblivious to the world around her.

"Excuse me, but I happen to be in love with her." Natsu said in a frostily matter-of-fact voice. Levy jumped slightly, looking incredibly guilty.

"Oh – uhh…well, that…that's really horrible, then," She said lamely, shrinking back slightly from his glower. "I mean – wow, they make such a horrible couple, right? Aha, right? Yeah, so bad – hey-look-there's-my-lab-partner-kay-bye."

With that, she quickly swung her leg over the bench and sprinted out of the caf, her bag trailing after her and banging against her leg.

Natsu sighed loudly and looked at Lucy and Loke again. "I wish I was him," he said desolately.

"I'm sorry dude." I sympathized as I reached over to pat his shoulder.

"Hey, everyone, I just wanted to say that – LUCY!?" Gray yelped as he saw her. She dislodged her face from Loke's and smiled widely at him.

"What – but – guh!" He spluttered, staring wide-eyed at them. "You – you two?! What is with all my friends deciding to date each other? Stop it! It's fucking weird!"

As if on cue, Jet ambled in, smiling widely. "Hey, anyone seen Levy anywhere?"

Gray growled angrily and smacked him upside the head.

"Hey!" Jet cried, dodging another blow. "Chill dude, what did I ever do to you?!"

I sighed and stood up, putting myself between Gray (hey, he's looking at me now! YES!...wait, that's because I'm in his face.) and Jet. "What did you want to tell us again, Gray?" I asked sweetly. He just looked at me blankly for a minute, as though he was trying to place exactly why I was smiling at him like a creep, before turning to the rest of them team.

Fan-fucking-tastic. I love being such an awkward freak. Really.

"Yeah, practice tonight, at six. Be there." He nodded at everyone once, raising his eyes briefly at Natsu, who had opened his mouth to protest. Natsu shut his mouth, scowling. Looking pleased, Gray snagged a poptart from Jellal's hand and walked away.

Sigh. He's so hot.

"Levy is in the library." I turned around and said to Jet, before I went into another Gray-centered daydream.

"Great, thanks!" He smiled. He started to bound off, but then stopped and said to me, "Does my breath smell?"

I opened my mouth to tell him that it probably doesn't, please don't breathe in my face, but – too late, he went ahead and spewed his breath right at me anyway.

I spluttered slightly and smiled weakly at him. "Yeah, it's fine."

"What about my hair? Does my hair –"

I quickly cut him off before he shoved his head in my face as well. "You look fantastic, okay?"

"Great – listen." He said to me, turning around one last time. "You're her friend, right?"

I raised my eyebrow. "Yes."

"Does she like me?"

"Do you like her?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, then. Ask her out." I said confidently.

He looked thrilled. "Wait – really?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Go for it."

"Thanks!" He said excitedly. "You know, you're pretty cool!" He added to me. He leaned down and hugged me enthusiastically, just for good measure, and bounded away at light speed. I stared after him, slightly perplexed.

* * *

"Really, Gajeel?"

I was standing over my oaf-of-a-cousin in the library, my hands on my hips and an eyebrow raised in my signature gesture of disbelief. He shh-ed me and pulled me down next to him, hiding us both behind his newspaper.

"What are you doing here?" He hissed, casting his glance around.

I raised an eyebrow. "I could be asking you the same thing – like, honestly, what are you doing?"

"Lower your voice!" He whispered angrily.

"Since when have you started caring about Poly's rules?"

"Since now! Shut up!"

"Yeah, right! Your motto in life is 'Rules were meant to be brok – UMMPH!" I choked indignantly as he stuffed a large piece of paper in my mouth.

I spit it out, gagging at the taste. "What was that for?!"

"That was for talking! What fucking part of 'shut up' don't you understand?!" He asked me.

"What I don't understand is what you're even doing." I narrowed my eyes at him, and he scowled at me before peering through a hole in his newspaper again. He cursed quietly under his breath. I followed his gaze, confused, and saw –

"Levy? You're spying on Levy?"

"Will you shut up the fuck up?!"

"Right, sorry." I lowered my voice to a whisper. "Why are you spying on – oh, dear Mavis, you like her!"

Gajeel took a full three minutes to sputter at me, his face turning a bright tomato red. Finally, he shut up, glaring darkly at me. "I do not."

"Dude, you're spying on her from behind a newspaper with holes cut into it." I said dryly.

"So? That doesn't mean I like the shrimp!"

"And it means…that you enjoy stalking your cousin's friend?" I asked skeptically.

"I'm not stalking her." He protested, glancing through the hole again.

"Then what are you doing?" I asked him.

"I'm…observing."

"Observing." I repeated flatly.

"Yes," He said confidently. "Observing."

"…stalking." I finally said matter-of-factly. "You're stalking her because you like her."

"I don't like her!"

"So, you like Jet, then? I always knew you were a poof." I said amusedly. He shot me another dark glower.

"I just don't think it makes any sense that she can get an athlete like that to notice her." Gajeel said, his voice laced with a little too much dislike for it to be entirely normal.

"Two." I corrected.

"What?" He asked absently, staring through the hole once again. His eyebrows creasing as Levy laughed quietly at something that Jet said, and he moved closer to her, smiling charmingly.

Ah – the library, just the perfect scene for a budding romance.

"She's got two brilliant athletes with their eyes on her." I said, smiling in an annoyingly smug way.

"Who else?" He asked, his voice unintentionally jealous.

"Well, there's the captain of the track team Jet, and there's also some other kid who likes her but just won't admit it."

"Really?" His voice was a little too interested.

"Yeah. Some Gajeel guy." I smirked.

"Really – hey!" He shoved me slightly, but then quickly pulled me back up as I tilted over too much, ready to fall.

"Well, it's true!" I defended, laughing slightly.

"I don't!"

"Then explain why you're spying. Go on – explain." I said.

Wow, I'm so annoying. I honestly wonder how this kid puts up with me.

"I just…wanted to tell her…that he's way out of her league." Gajeel finally got out. "Yeah, clearly, because she's such an ugly nerd. She shouldn't waste her time trying to get a guy that undoubtedly won't ever be interested in her."

"Er, Gajeel," I tried. "In case you haven't noticed, he seems to be flirting with her a whole lot –"

"Yeah," He said decisively, standing up. "I think I'll go and tell her that, actually. So she doesn't get her hopes up or something."

My mouth fell open as I watched him saunter over to their table and plop down without an invitation. Levy and Jet both jumped slightly as they were pulled back to reality, and I groaned as they turned to glower at him.

My. Cousin. Is. An. Imbecile.

"McGarden." Gajeel said in a loud, arrogant voice. Levy's eyes narrowed.

"Redfox." She spat his name like it was something foul in her mouth.

"What are you doing?" He continued.

"Tutoring, so leave." She told him, turning back to Jet.

Gajeel guffawed loudly, and Levy turned around again, clearly fighting against the urge to sock him in the face.

Truthfully, I'd like to see that.

"Is something funny, Redfox?" She gritted out. A vein in her temple was pulsing slightly, and her face was slowly turning redder and redder, a sure sign of an impending explosion.

I'm so glad that I'm sitting over here right now. I quickly grabbed a book and got it ready to shield my face from any attacks.

"Actually, yes." He said, smiling pleasantly and leaning forward. Jet stared at him incredulously.

"Go away." She said flatly, turning around again. Jet shot her an unsure smile, but she merely glowered down at her book.

"You know, McGarden, you shouldn't even try." Gajeel said, clearly not understanding the point of the words 'go away'.

"Leave Redfox." Levy said, her voice barely controlled, her eyes frozen on the book in front of her.

"I mean,the captain of the track team dating you?" Gajeel let out a sharp laugh, and Levy stiffened slightly. Gajeel leaned forward again, and hissed maliciously in her ear, "Forget it, McGarden. He's way out of your league."

Levy's cheeks were bright red, her teeth gritted against the insult.

"Fuck. Off. Redfox." She said, punctuating the words clearly.

"Don't tell me what to do." He said.

"I'll tell you what to do if I want to!" Levy said angrily, finally turning around to glare at him. Gajeel, however, was still leaning forward, so their faces were only about an inch apart. Levy froze, eyes wide, not breathing.

"Like what you see?" Gajeel breathed, his mouth curling up into a smirk as Levy's eyes accidentally traced over his face.

Levy seemed to snap out of it, her eyes narrowing. "Don't you wish," She spat. "Get out of my personal space."

"Is it," Gajeel moved closer, and Levy shrunk back slightly. "Bothering you?"

"Frankly, yes." She said, her voice now slightly fearful. Jet had somehow managed to spot me, and, looking perceptively relieved, literally ran to my table so that he could hide behind my book with me. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"What are you doing?" I hissed.

"I need your permission to punch your cousin in the face." Jet whispered, looking earnest.

I looked over at Levy's table. She was leaning even further away from him, nearly falling backwards. He was standing up and leaning towards her. At this point their bodies were almost horizontal.

"Permission granted." The words left my mouth before I could even call them back. But, come on – the prick was tormenting my friend! I do have loyalties, you know.

"Great, thanks!" Jet said, looking pleased. He got up to run back to the table, but I quickly grabbed his arm and pulled him down again.

"Hold on…" I said slowly, my eyes fixed on Levy and Gajeel. Gajeel had his hand on Levy's lower back, and he was slowly leaning back to a vertical position, using his hold on her to pull her up with him. She was silent, her eyes holding an imperceptible expression in them, her lightly curled fists resting gently against his chest.

"Holy hell – I thought she liked me!" Jet breathed in an astonished voice. He seemed more intrigued then angry, however, so I decided that this kid maybe wasn't so bad after all.

"I think she likes him deep down." I whispered to him as we stared at them over my book. They were upright at his point, barely even an inch of distance between their bodies.

"She acts like she hates him." Jet's voice was calculating.

"That's clearly because she's harboring a deep, passionate love for him." I shot back.

"Mavis, they're practically undressing each other with their eyes." Jet said gleefully. I turned towards him, a skeptic eyebrow raised.

"I thought you liked her."

"Well, I can't stand between something as intense as that." Jet stated matter-of-factly.

"I'm impressed." I said in a voice that stated just that.

I looked towards Levy and Gajeel again. They were staring at each others eyes, and Levy opened her mouth, probably to say something really sweet and romantic –

"Get away from me."

Well.

Gajeel smirked slightly, and moved closer. This time, Levy didn't move back, her expression challenging. "Make me." He whispered in a husky voice.

Please excuse me while I take a moment to dry-heave in disgust.

"Oh, I will if you don't –" Deciding that her incessant talking was too annoying for him to bear, Gajeel cut her off. With his lips.

I'm not sure whether this is a kiss or an improvised gag, to be honest, but I'm leaning towards the latter. Gajeel always did complain about how Levy talked too fucking much.

But…wait. If Gajeel was merely trying to silence her, he wouldn't be pulling her closer and tilting his head to the side, would he? And if Levy was able to sigh and open her mouth like she was doing right now, then she probably wasn't being gagged by his lips…

Holy shit – he's kissing her. And she's kissing back.

I'm in shock.

"Er – Lockser? You alright? Hello?" Jet poked me on the arm, but the only thing I could manage was a small squeaking noise. My jaw was wide open and dangling dangerously close to the ground.

This can't be real…can it? Oh, god, it's not, is it? Holy crap in a bottle.

Levy is kissing Gajeel. KISSING. As in, attaching her mouth to his and – well, I think you get the general idea of kissing.

Kissing, though. Gajeel.

As if realizing the gravity of her actions, Levy abruptly pulled away, shoving him away from her. Her eyes were wide, thousands of emotions swimming through them. Emotions so raw, so powerful, that even from a distance, I could read each and every one – Confusion. Lust. Dislike. Like. Understanding. Want. Struggle.

They flitted through her eyes, contrasting, fighting the raging battle that I knew always started in her head whenever Gajeel was around.

He, on the other hand, was still, his red eyes unreadable, only waiting, watching for her reaction.

For a second, they stood there, the sounds of their ragged breathing pulsing through the air. Abruptly, Levy turned around, her azure hair whipping behind her, and shot out of the library.

Well, damn.

A slow grin spread across Gajeel's face, and he calmly walked out as well, his hands placed in his pockets.

Once again, I was the incredulous bystander left to clean up the mess.

Brilliant. Just fucking brilliant.

* * *

sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo thoughts?


	9. Chapter 9

OhMyGoshOhMyGoshOhMyGosh your guys feedback has been so kind and positive and I love you all so much for reading and reviewing! lovelovelovelovelllllloooovvveeee

** LePoptart-** I actually changed it from a bagel to a poptart just for you XD

**Doonnnttt hate meeeeee**

**I like Lyon I really do I swear, this is just for shits and giggles everyone's way out of character anyway so MUHAHAHAHA DEAL WITH IT.**

**I'm so sorry.**

* * *

"Um – hey," I said tentatively, standing near the doorway. Lucy and I shared an uneasy look, Levy's brown eyes were wide and glassy, staring at the the canopy of my bed without seeing anything. They turned to me, dazed and hazy.

"Hello," She said in a high voice quite unlike her usual self. "Lovely day, isn't it?"

I looked out of the window. Just then, a long flash of lightning lit up the sky, illuminating the huge grey clouds and torrents of rain pouring down.

"Um…"

"I must have left my chem things in the library. I guess I'll just go back and get them." She said in that same high voice, moving in a vague sort of way towards the door.

"Er…I actually have them right here." Lucy said, placing then bag gingerly next to Levy.

Levy turned to her, a large, fake smile plastered across her face. I took an involuntary step back. "You're the bestest friends ever guys." She declared. "You know that? The absolute best."

I managed a timid smile as I took a few steps toward her. "Uh…We love you, too?"

"Chocolate." Levy was muttering to herself, completely oblivious. "I need some chocolate. Better run to the nook. I have to get me some chocolate…"

She floated towards the door and down the hallway, the sound of her muttering coming back to me as Lucy and I stood, frozen in the middle of the room.

Oh, fuck.

Chocolate – when Levy wants chocolate, that means she's under some severe mental stress, the usually sweet, calm, and collected Levy could snap at any moment and turn instead into a large, hyperventilating puddle of Levy goo.

And guess who gets to clean up that large, hyperventilating puddle of Levy goo?

That's right – yours truly.

Yippee.

I'll freely admit it – I bolted.

I mean, come on! Have you ever had to deal with Psycho Levy before? No? Well, my friend, consider yourself lucky, because that is one thing that no one – no one – should have to witness. It is the reason for my insanity. I used to be normal once upon a time! Normal, I tell you!

Okay, I was never normal.

But still!

"Um…Juvia? What are you doing down there?"

"Gah!" I yelped, jumping about a foot in the air and banging my head on the table. I cursed loudly, rubbing the top of my head as I peered up at the voice, which belonged to Bixlow.

"You know, you should be worried about the fact that I don't find this behavior the slightest bit crazy. In fact, for you, I consider this normal." he continued, sounding deeply amused.

I chose not to dignify that with a response.

"But seriously – is the table really the only hiding place you can think of?"

I huffed angrily at that one. "Well, excuse me for not being as creative and resourceful as you, oh weird one –"

"I'm not weird!"

"I beg to differ."

He glared at me. "Says the girl currently in hiding underneath a table."

I couldn't help but grin at that one. "Touché."

He grinned back briefly. "Seriously, though – what are you doing down there?"

I sighed. "I'm hiding from Levy, if you must know."

"Levy? Why? I thought she was your friend."

"She is my friend. She's just going through some…er…emotional unbalance right now, and I'm really not in the mood to witness her mental breakdown." I let out a brief shudder.

He stared at me. "You're a horrible friend."

I shrugged tiredly. "Say what you must, but you haven't seen one of Levy's emotional freak-outs. Plus Lucy said she'd take this one, they're closer anyway, and I handled the terrible hair cut of 2013. I've been traumatized, trust me – I can't see a pair of scissors without breaking out in sweat. Thank god for headbands amiright?"

"So, what drove her to her insanity this time?" Bixlow asked conversationally.

I stared. "She's was already insane."

He sent me one of those eyebrow-looks that clearly said 'don't play dumb; you know what I'm talking about'.

I sighed again. "My cousin."

"Redfox?"

"How many other cousins do I have in this school?" I asked testily.

"How?" Bixlow asked.

"Well, he – oh, shit!" I gasped as I caught sight of Levy at the doorway of the dorm lounge. Her eyes were bloodshot and she was wearing a very forced smile on her face, which I took to mean that she was ready to explode at any second. As she approached – more like stomped – and yes it was adorable, I mean terrifying, yes definitely terrifying - her way through the lounge, people scurried aside to let her pass.

I think I just peed myself.

"Oh, god." I whimpered. Bixlow's eyes were wide as he took her in.

"Get behind me. Quick." If I hadn't caught the slight movement of his mouth, I wouldn't have even known that he was talking to me. I wanted to argue, but Levy was getting closer and I was sure that she could somehow see me under the table (she's not stupid. Emotionally unhinged, sure – but not stupid), so I didn't argue, quickly scurrying behind Bixlow and letting him pick me up and tow me to a safe hiding spot.

"Where are you taking me?" I hissed, my eyes shut tightly as he moved.

"Shut up." He whispered back. He had me hugged tightly to his chest and was nearly sprinting up a set of…steps…

Shit.

"Your dorm?" My frightened voice was getting higher in pitch. "That was your genius idea? You're bringing me to your dorm?"

"I was a bit pressed for time, Lockser!" Bixlow said in a huffy voice, setting me down and opening his door.

"Bixlow, what'll people say if they see me going in there?" I moaned.

"You were there to discuss tactics. It's true – this is where we discuss them, you know." The Blunet said calmly, starting to nudge me in. I continued to berate him even while I stepped through.

"But – I mean, I'm the only one on the team who sucks, people are already going to think that I'm sleeping with the lot of you, and this isn't really going to – meep!"

Yeah, that really high-pitched sound of pure, unadulterated fear? That came from me.

Attractive, I know.

Why have I resorted to making squeaky noises of terror, you may ask?

Well, you see, I was currently in a room full of very shirtless adolescent males, who were staring at me as though I was a Martian from outer space, because ohmygod there's a girl in our dorm! A GIRL!

"Hey, guys." Bixlow said casually, pulling off his shirt, wadding it in a little ball, and chucking it into a corner. I glanced over and saw that there was a small tower of shirts stacked in the corner underneath small net . Apparently, it was a little ritual of theirs to walk into their dorm room, take off their shirt, and make a shot.

I swear I'll never understand the male subspecies.

I crossed my arms over my chest, just in case anyone got the idea of 'upholding the tradition'.

"Um." Jellal broke the ice oh-so-eloquently.

"Er…" I tucked a strand of my sapphire hair nervously behind one ear. "Hi?"

"What's the chick doing here?"

I looked over, my face set into the lines of a dark scowl, and saw that there was another occupant of this dorm, a tall, muscular-in-a-stringy-sort-of-way, silver haired guy who was eyeing me like I was his next whore for the night.

I already don't like this dude.

"The 'chick' has a name," I said darkly. I distinctly heard Jellal let out a low groan, Loke thump his head against his headboard, and Blixlow mutter 'fuck' under his breath.

Hey, where's Gray?

"Whoa," A slow leer spread across the guy's face. "Do we have a feisty one here?"

"Do not refer to me as 'one'." My mouth, it seems, simply does not know when to shut up. "I am a human fucking being, and – excuse me, have you ever heard of the personal bubble?! Get away from me!"

Creepy ran another finger down my arm. "Name's Lyon." He said in a low voice. "You must be Beautiful. It's nice to finally meet you."

I literally had to stare at him for a couple of minutes to see if he was actually being serious.

"You're kidding." I said flatly. I turned to Jellal, who had his head in his hands. "He's kidding, right?"

"Why would I be kidding, love?" A long finger traced over my cheek, and I slapped it away. He took another step closer, a dark glint in his eyes. "I've never been more serious in my life."

"Meep." I squeaked again, apparently losing my ability to smart-ass the way out of situations like this.

I'll tell you a little secret – Cree-Lyon sort of scares me. Don't tell anyone.

"Lyon, I think I'd appreciate if you didn't try to molest my players See, if you did do anything to her, I might just have to beat your ass. I'm sure the boys would love to help." A cool voice said from behind me. Instantly, a feeling of acute relief spread through my body.

Gray.

"Yeah, I think I'd appreciate the 'no-molesting' rule, too." I said, scurrying back a couple of steps so that I could quickly hide behind Gray. As soon as I was behind him, though, my mouth fell open.

He doesn't have a shirt on. Kill me. Kill me.

Before I could further embarrass myself by doing something stupid – like drooling – another set of arms quickly picked me up and dragged me to another corner of the room.

"Must you always insist on being so fucking feisty?" Bixlow demanded of me in a low hiss, his eyes bright with anger.

I blinked in surprise. "Well – yeah, being a smartass is sort of my knee-jerk reaction to –"

"Look, I don't know if you'd noticed –" Bixlow started, his voice just as angry.

"Lyon is bad news." Jellal finished solemnly.

"Yeah, I think I got that." I snapped quietly, looking discreetly over to where Gray was threatening Lyon. Lyon was staring right at me, and upon seeing that I was looking at him, wiggled his eyebrows at me. I quickly looked back at the boys.

"Once he notices a girl, he'll do anything he can to get her in his bed," Loke was telling me.

I shuddered. "That's never going to happen."

"Yeah, well," Bixlow still seemed mad. "He might even use force to make it happen." I let out a low whimper, glad that Gajeel, Levy, or Lucy weren't here to hear me make such a pitiful noise.

"We've tried to get that shit stain kicked out of the dorm half a hundred times with no luck."

I turned around, relieved, instantly safer, to see that Gray had joined our little huddle, his dark eyes glimmering with anger.

"You won't let him touch me, right?" My voice was more scared and vulnerable-sounding than I'd hoped.

Some of the anger in Gray's eyes died down as he looked at me. "No, I won't. Promise."

"Hey," Someone's hand touched my shoulder, and I saw that Jellal was peering at me through concerned eyes. "You okay?"

I couldn't help it – he was so cute and I just had to grin. "I'm fine. Hes just a level of sleazy I don't have much experience dealing with."

"So, what are you doing here, anyway?" Gray asked me. "I'm sensing that this wasn't just a visit to get put on the hit-list of the school's serial-bedder."

I winced. "Er, no, it wasn't. I was actually hiding from Levy."

He cocked an eyebrow, and I had to suppress a scream of excitement – I was talking to him! And I didn't say anything stupid!

Yet!

BUT STILL!

"She was going to go into one of her…episodes." I finished mysteriously, narrowing my eyes slightly to prove my elusiveness. Only true Levy-knowers would know what I'm talking about, and since Gray is a true Levy-knower, he'll understand what I'm saying and we'll kind of but not really have an inside joke!

"…episodes?" He asked tentatively.

"You know…when she goes all psycho and completely has a nervous breakdown?"

I got a large, fat blank look from one Gray Fulbuster.

"Crying? Hysterics? Excessive amounts of chocolate?" I asked, my voice on an edge of desperation. "Loud, banshee-like wailing? Homicidal proclamations? No? Am I the only one who is forced to endure the torture?!"

Gray shrugged slightly. "Uh – I guess so. I've never seen her go into an 'episode'. She's usually so calm. Well, except when we have exams, then she gets sort of insane."

My eyes narrowed. "Yeah, well, how she gets during exams is nothing compared to this, trust me."

Hmph. Natsu might know at least.

"What happened to her?" Gray asked, his brow furrowing in concern. Aw – he's so adorable. He cares about his friends so much. God, Levy is so lucky. She got to grow up friends with the sweet, gorgeous guy, and I got stuck with the impulsive brat.

Story of my life.

"Er…you know my cousin?" I asked, shifting slowly from foot to foot.

A dry look appeared on Gray's face. "I think I've heard of him, yeah."

"So…he sort of but not really likes Levy?" I continued tentatively.

Gray's face fell flat.

Fuck.

"And…she, uh, might even like him back, I think…"

His expression was slowly turning angry.

Unfortunately, I continued to blab like the stupid, blabbing idiot that I was.

"And, er…at the library, when Levy was tutoring Jet, Gajeel uh…walked over and started being an ass because that's sort of in his true nature. When he really likes someone, his automatic reaction is to be an idiot because he is an idiot and does really annoying, impulsive things and leaves me to clean up the mess left behind –"

"The point…?" Loke gestured for me to continue onwards, and I glared briefly at him for cutting off my word diarrhea.

"Well, he might have…you know…kissedher. And she kind of kissedhimback. And now she's going through a mental crisis of epic proportions. Right, well, I'm going to check on her now! Kaythanksbye!"

My voice had reached a point of volume that made me doubt if even dogs had the ability to decipher it, much less humans. This gave me a slight advantage. While the boys were still trying to figure out what in Mavis' name I must have said, I was able to quickly dart around them and to the door. I pulled it open and let myself through just as Gray shouted, "He WHAT?!" in a very loud, murderous voice.

I may or may not have let out a small, brief whimper of fear as I sprinted through the lounge, not even caring that the whole dorm saw me coming down there from a boys' room.

Now not only do I seem like a whore, I seem like a spineless whore.

Wow. I'm sure everyone wants to be just like me when they grow up! I'm just so incredibly cool and role-modely like that.

Fun Fact: I just escaped a dangerous situation.

Another (not so) Fun Fact: And I'm walking towards one right now.

Joy.

My life is such a joke.

* * *

sooooooooooooooooooooooooo...

I feel like I need to clarify a few things. I'm am starting to understand that the majority of you think I have a plot *snort* haha nooooooooo

This is just fun to write and I am PSYCHED you guys like it but it's probably gonna stay pretty random... I'm sorry... and I'll try sprinkling fluff in there but I'm not going to lie its wayyyyy more fun to take a leaf from Mashima's *my liege* book and make it awkward heh heh

but you guys. for serious. your suggestions are ALWAYS welcome. there are some crazy talented writers leaving me reviews and it maaayy or mmaayy nnoott make me freak out and I'm always listening I swear! I appreciate the crap out of all of you reviewers, it always gives me crazy motivation! so thankyouthankyouthankyou

lots of love always!


	10. Chapter 10

"Levy?"

My voice was high and tentative, a large hunk of chocolate held out in front of me as a peace offering of a sort. If anything, at least it would divert her attention from me for a couple of minutes so that I could make a hasty escape to…

…to…

Erm. Okay, well, I don't know exactly just where I'll go, but I'm sure something will come to me as I'm running. I mean, one of these days I'll have a brain wave. It's bound to happen sooner or later. I can't be stupid forever, right? I'm not going to be stupid forever, right?! Right?!

RIGHT?!

"Hello Juvia."

"Uh…" I inched forward slowly, the chocolate still held out in front of me like a shield. Levy's brown eyes were wide and glassy, a reflection of stardust sprinkled across them.

I'm not sure where the stardust even came from.

Maybe she's done this herself to scare me even more.

She would.

"How're you doing?" I asked warily. Levy let out a vague, too-big smile that I certainly did not believe.

"Oh, just happy dandy." She said in a dreamy voice. My eyebrow flew up.

Happy dandy?

Okay, only I use that little phrase, and even then, it's only when I'm being completely sarcastic. Something is seriously wrong with Levy.

I'm such a perceptive genius.

"Right. Er…why don't we have a seat, okay?" I nudged her towards her bed, and she lowered herself onto it, sitting cross-legged on the mattress. I gingerly placed the chocolate in her lap, but she merely took it and put it on her bedside table.

"I might have to kill your cousin."

This time, her voice was normal, an edge of dangerous hysteria threaded through it. The way she said it made me believe that she wasn't just serious – she was so fucking serious it's not even funny.

I gulped. "It was just a kiss, Levy, not that big of a deal –"

"Are you kidding?!" Levy yelped, her eyes on me again. They were filled with burning heat now, the stardust haze completely cleared away. I'm not sure which Levy I liked better, to be honest. "He violated my space! You can't just kiss someone and –"

"You kissed him back, Lev." I cut across, and she fell silent.

There was a long stretch of quiet, during which I watched her warily, taking note of the signs of another impending explosion of hysteria. Where the fuck did Lucy run off to damnit?! Her eyes were lowered to her lap, but her breathing was getting sharp and labored. Maybe if I just start to slowly inch away…

"I like him."

The words were a half-sob, and I froze.

"Come again?" I asked blankly. I mean, of course I already knew that she liked him, but to have her actually admit it…

Let's just say that Levy has severe denial issues.

Levy raised her unnaturally calm face to mine. A low, harsh chuckle escaped her lips. "I like him, okay? And the stupid kiss helped that come about."

I gulped. Levy was watching me carefully, tears welling up in her eyes.

"What about Jet?"

Of course I would.

She laughed again, the sound cutting and low. "I never liked him like that. I just forced myself."

"Well," I lowered myself onto her bed, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Liking Gajeel isn't a bad thing, Levy…"

"Are you kidding me?!" Levy cried. "Liking him is possibly the worst thing that's ever happened to me! Do you think I want to like him? I hate everything about him! He's a manwhore, he's rude, he's arrogant…"

"…but you still like him anyway?" I finished tentatively. She nodded, letting out a little wail.

"This sucks!" She bawled, dropping her face into my lap – causing me to jump violently – and letting out another wail.

"Levy?" I said in a voice that was perceptibly higher in pitch.

"Wmmpth?"

"Erm…you know he likes you back, right?"

Her head flew up so fast I literally had to blink a couple of times to adjust to her face suddenly being in front of mine.

"He what?"

Maybe I shouldn't have opened my fat gob.

"He…er…you know. Likes you back." I started inching away from her slightly, but she just inched forward, her eyes wide and disbelieving.

"That's not true." She shook her head violently. "You're just saying that to make me feel better. He hates me. He's a jerk to me all the time."

"As weird and convoluted as his logic may seem, that's sort of how I figured out that he likes you." I told her. Her eyes, if possible, widened even further. "Haven't you ever noticed how he pays special attention to you? Even if you're not talking to him, he'll walk up to you and initiate conversation, even if it's an insult, so that he can talk to you."

Levy still looked like she didn't believe me.

"That doesn't make any sense." She kept insisting.

"Levy." I explained patiently. "This is Gajeel we're talking about. Let me know if anything he ever does makes any sense."

"But still."

"But still what?" I asked, annoyed. "He likes you! He was freaking spying on you and Jet in the library because he was jealous!"

Levy looked at me again, her face betraying a flicker of hope. "He was?"

"No, I'm just lying to you for kicks and giggles." I snapped. "Yes, he was. He used a newspaper with holes cut into it, for Mavis' sake!"

Levy sat back, looking stunned. "Holy cow" She breathed.

I nodded, pleased with the results. She had managed not to cry on me – too much – and this time, I actually got out alive with very minor brain damage!

Well done, me!

"Wait." She said suddenly. When she turned her eyes to me again, they were frantic and scared-looking. "What am I supposed to do now?"

I sighed.

* * *

"So, you just have to walk up to him and kiss him smack on the mouth," I was muttering to Levy on the way to the caf for breakfast the next morning. "You don't even have to say anything. Walk and kiss."

Levy nodded, looking anxious. "What if he rejects me in front of the whole school?"

My teeth gritted.

Number of times Levy said that sentence: 39.

"What if my grandmother had wheels?" I snapped back at her.

Levy blinked. "Er…she'd be a grandmother in a wheelchair?"

"No! She'd be a wagon!"

Levy looked thoroughly confused. "…that doesn't make any sense."

I threw my hands up. "I KNOW!"

"So…what was the point of saying that?"

"I don't know! Please go now."

Levy gave me another worried look – oh, stop it, it's not like you're any less insane than I am, woman – and, taking a deep breath, started walking towards our usual table. I stood by the door, watching as her light blue head got closer and closer to Gajeel's pitch black mane.

He was, I saw, talking with a couple of his friends, his arm slung around a pretty redhead. As they talked, he leaned down and kissed her on the mouth.

…shit.

My eyes widened as Levy got closer to him – she hadn't seen the redhead…and…

"LEVY!" I screamed across the room. She didn't seem to hear me. "LEVY! LEVY! LEVYLEVYLEVY –"

Fuck it.

Dumping my bag on an unsuspecting nerd, I jumped over the table and sprinted towards her.

Mavis, what is with this stupid lunch room layout, huh?! Did there seriously have to be a hundred tables the doors and ours? Who designed this crap, anyway? Make life even harder for me, why don't you?!

"Excuse me, sorry, move it, fuckface !" I yelled hurriedly as I jumped over benches and tables, slopping across plates of food. People grumbled as I shoved past them, and a burly seventh senior went as far as to throw out his arm to trip me for stepping in his food.

I was focused on Levy.

She was three steps away from Gajeel, her eyes closed, muttering something under her breath – which I can bet you was 'walk and kiss, walk and kiss' – completely oblivious to my asshole cousin and his new girlfriend.

I gasped in a breath as I prepared to make the final leap…closer…closer…

"YAaAaAaAaH!" I screamed, using my foot to propel myself across the table and straight at Gajeel.

I'm not sure where the wild war-cry came from, but I think it added a nice effect.

I crashed into Gajeel and we landed heavily on the floor, he letting out an audible 'oof'ing sound as he hit the stone.

Oh. Thank. God.

"WHAT THE FUCK, VIA?!" Gajeel was bellowing underneath me.

"Hey, cuz," I said breathlessly, my face in a grin. Levy was frozen, her eyes wide and accusing as they glared right at me.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Gajeel growled angrily, groaning as he slowly sat up.

"Sorry." I bit my lip and patted his shoulder a bit. I looked up at levy. "Ha! I won!"

"You won what, you psychotic freak, the 'Running out of nowhere and tackling your fucking cousin' award?" Gajeel threw out furiously as he got up, dusted his large self off, and sat back down again. "Honestly, all I want is a fucking peaceful lunch, but apparently that's too much to ask for in this fucking school."

Ignoring him, I quickly grabbed Levy's hand and started towing her away.

"What was that?" Levy hissed at me as soon as we were far enough away, her eyes bright and glimmering with rage.

"That," I panted, still smiling in a self-satisfied manner. "Was me rescuing you from potential embarrassment."

"Oh, really?" Levy snarled. "So you knew that Gajeel would reject me, somehow? Is that it? What, am I not pretty enough for him?"

My smile dropped off of my face. "Of course not, Levy, you're gorgeous –"

"Apparently not gorgeous enough for your precious cousin." Levy snapped harshly. "Thanks a lot for the embarrassment. As per usual."

"Levy, I was just –" I began desperately, but with one last accusing glare, she turned around and marched straight out the doors, leaving me to stand there, alone and incredulous.

Tears pricked behind my eyes as I turned around to the lunch room again, only to see that it was in complete ruins, a path of destruction right where I had sprinted through.

"Detention." Makarov said, coming up to me. His eyes were alive with anger and her mouth was set into a tight line. "There is no acceptable excuse for this sort of behavior. I'm extremely disappointed in you, Miss Lockser."

And I promptly burst into tears.

* * *

You must review. because, honestly, they're the only things that keep me going even if it's a couple of words, i don't mind - it's going to help me keep writing and whatnot thanks so much for reading!

ALSO IT WAS PHYSICALLY PAINFUL TO EVEN PUT SOME ANONYMOUS BIMBO WITH BABY. SO DON'T EVEN START. IT HURTS ME MORE THEN IT HURTS YOU.

and the next couple chapters are amazing if i do say so myself, so brace yourselfs!


	11. Chapter 11

HOLY SCHEIßE I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! YOU GUYS ARE SO SWEET AND ALL YOUR REVIEWS MAKE ME BLUSH AND SMILE FOR HOURS CAN WE JUST HAVE A GROUP HUG? YES? OK THIS IS HAPPENING (Ɔ˘⌣˘)(˘⌣˘)(˘⌣˘)(˘⌣˘)˘⌣˘ C)

For real the support and kind words I've gotten from you guys make me so happy, it really keeps me going. This chapter almost didn't get posted, my dog of twelve years passed away and honestly its been a really hard week. But you're all so supportive I really couldn't bring myself to let you down and I had fun typing this one out (its a long one) :) so thank you all for being amazing friends

I love you a fucking truckload too! :*

* * *

Levy still isn't talking to me.

I tried explaining myself to her for a total of sixteen times, but she kept on getting up and moving away.

Mavis, I did her a favor! Why is she so pissy about it?! Has she not seen Gajeel with his new toy – I mean, whor – I MEAN, GIRLFRIEND?

Of course she hasn't.

And now she's mad at me for being an embarrassment to her. And the general human race now that I think about it.

Wow, I'm seriously pathetic. I must be at the bottom of the human pyramid.

This is so unfair.

I gritted my teeth against the lump in my throat and scrubbed harder at a particularly stubborn glop of pie that simply refused to get off the floor.

Stupid pie. YOU'RE RUINING MY LIFE.

"Hey."

My head snapped up, my eyes, sparkling with unshed tears, wide and disbelieving.

"What are you doing here?" I croaked, completely blown away. I mean, dude. I was so surprised that I even forgot to act all in love with the guy. That's saying a lot.

"Thought you might be hungry." Gray sat down next to me and passed me a plate of brownies.

My brow furrowed, but I took the plate from him. "Er…thanks?"

He nodded and waved his hand slightly. "So…" He cleared his throat. "I saw what you did for Levy. That was pretty cool of you."

I shrugged. "She's my friend. It's what anyone would have done."

I can't believe that I'm actually talking coherently right now. I should be upset more often – it makes me act like a normal human being.

…nah.

"Natsu, Lucy and I tried talking to her about it," He said again, after a little silence.

I couldn't help it; I laughed harshly and started scrubbing at the goddamned piece of pie again. "Yeah? And how'd that go?"

"She told us to get out of her face."

I snorted. "Of course. She'll probably never talk to me again."

"Is your cousin alright?" Gray asked, after another awkward silence.

I looked at him. "Nope. He's not talking to me, either. Apparently, I embarrassed him in front of his friends and he's no longer going to fraternize with me during school. And Lucy's always busy and out of the picture. Which leaves me basically friendless except for Bixlow, Natsu, and Jellal, and they're just a of dudes that the whole school thinks I'm fucking!"

"Erm…"

"Not only them – they think I'm some sort of whore that slept with the whole team just to get on it. What the fuck is wrong with this school?!" I threw down the rag and sat back, looking up at the ceiling to stop myself from bursting out in tears.

"And the sad thing is," I continued, not even caring that he looked highly uncomfortable because of my rant, "I embarrassed myself more than anyone else, just to fucking help the two jerks, and they're both mad at me."

"That's not fair," Gray said quietly.

"No." I looked at him. "It's not. But I'm used to it, to be honest."

There was another bout of silence, and I picked up the rag and got back to work at the piece of pie again. Gray was silent, watching me work.

"So…thanks for coming here," I said awkwardly, trying to break the silence.

"No problem."

Another silence.

You know, this isn't how I imagined my first real conversation with Gray Fullbuster. In my head, we were both in an extremely romantic situation (not on the floor of a food-strewn caf), and he said something along the lines of 'I love you/Marry me' at least twice.

I'm disappointed.

"Why did you come?" I blurted out. The question had been gnawing at me ever since he handed me the plate of brownies.

He shrugged. "I don't know. I felt like I owed it to you."

Right.

Of course.

"How so?"

"You did a lot for Levy," He said simply.

My mouth pulled up in a bitter half-smile. "I always do a lot for Levy. I haven't ever seen you coming up to me those times."

"Well…there is another motive." He admitted.

My heart sped up.

Shut up, heart.

"Yeah?" I asked, my voice carefully neutral. Inside, though, my stomach was doing the conga with itself.

"Well…you're on my team."

The conga abruptly stopped.

"And, well, you already seem pretty close with the rest of the team, so, I figured I should at least try and get to know you a little." He shrugged again.

I managed a weak smile. "Right. For the team."

"That's right." He said cheerfully. "I was also pretty curious. Natsu reckons you're one of the coolest girls he's ever met. I thought I'd see for myself."

I laughed. "Alright, well, you tell me what you think."

"I think you're completely insane." Gray deadpanned.

Once again, not something a girl wants to hear from the love of her life.

I glared at him.

He grinned back. "In a good way."

I rolled my eyes. "Thanks…I think."

"It was a compliment…I think." He flicked his hair out of his eyes and leaned back on the heels of his hands.

"Right." I muttered, scrubbing at the pie again. It still refused to budge, so I gave up, sitting back and letting out an exasperated huff.

"Why can't anything ever be easy for me?" I asked deploringly of Gray.

He shrugged. "Maybe everything you need is right in front of you, and you just don't know what to look for."

My eyebrows pulled together as he took the rag from me, dipped it into the bucket of soapy water, squeezed some of the water around the little glob, and scrubbed off the piece of pie. He handed the rag back to me, and I took it numbly, my jaw open in surprise.

"There's always a solution. You just have to take the time to find it." He said quietly. He smiled at me and got up to leave, dusting his hands off in the process. "I'll see you at practice tomorrow, Lockser," He said over his shoulder, his dark eyes sparkling at me. I stared up at him from my position on the floor.

"Uh, yeah." I said vaguely.

He's deep. And wise. And just…wow.

See? This, my friends, is why I love him. Did you just see that?! DID YOU?!

Tell me if you ever find someone more perfect than Gray Fullbuster. I dare you.

* * *

I needed to be by myself. So I did what any sane person would do. I snuck onto the roof.

It was Gajeel who found me, an hour later, perched on the roof staring out over the school grounds.

"Hey."

"I thought you weren't talking to me." My voice was low, and I didn't even bother looking away from outline of the woods.

"You know I can't stay mad at you for long, Juvia." He said down next to me, taking up more space then should be possible for one person.

"I'm mad at you," I told him, my actions stating exactly the opposite.

"For what?"

"For screwing around with Levy."

He stiffened completely. "I…I don't want to talk about it."

There was a short silence.

"What's her name?" I asked softly.

He sighed. "Flare. She annoys the living shit out of me."

"Just like Levy does?"

"Not at all." He leaned his head against mine and I took a deep, shaky breath.

"Why are you even dating her?" I asked, cracking my back while Gajeel held my shoulders to steady me.

"No idea," He responded, rotating his head.

"That makes sense," I said drily. "You know, dating someone who bugs you instead of dating the person you honestly like."

"Who's that?" He asked oh-so-innocently.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Levy."

He let out an amused little laugh. "I don't like Levy, Juvia." The way he said it made the mere idea of him liking my friend seem like the most preposterous thing in the world.

But I knew better – his voice was too practiced, too controlled, for that to be truthful.

"Right." I rolled my eyes. "I better get going, though – she's probably worried sick."

* * *

"I need to talk to you," I said, my voice firm. I had managed to corner Levy in the lounge and her eyes were narrowed and spitting fire at me.

So much for being worried.

"You're delusional." I stated loudly. I was mad – I do so much for the girl, and this is what I get in return.

How utterly shitty.

"Great to know. Get out of my face."

"I'm not done yet." I said, narrowing my eyes at her. "If you actually think that I'm that bad of a friend, you must not know me at all. You know, I consider you a close friend, but you don't even trust me."

Levy's eyes softened slightly. "I –"

"I'm not done yet," I cut across. "Do you honestly think that I don't think you're good enough for Gajeel? Do you know how many arguments we've gotten into because he calls you a nerd, or lesbian, or something, and I get mad at him in your defense?"

"What –"

"I think you're out of his league. And I told him that, too. So what in Mavis' name made you believe that I sprinted across the cafeteria, ran through the meals of fifty different people, and tackled my cousin to the ground just to embarrass you?"

"I –"

"I was trying to protect you. He has a girlfriend. So I'm sorry if I 'embarrassed' you, but I think in this case I embarrassed myself more just to save you from it."

Levy's jaw dropped slightly,"Juvia –"

"So, Levy, to be perfectly honest with you, I think you're the bad friend in this situation." I finished. "Oh, and, by the way, thanks for the detention."

My eyes were sparking in rage, my fists curled up at my sides. I glared at her one last time before sweeping out of the room. Not even caring about who saw me, I sprinted up the steps to the boys' side, taking them two at a time.

I arrived at the door, out of breath, and knocked on it three times. Luck was on my side this time – it was Gray who opened the door.

"Um…hi."

"I did it." I said breathlessly.

He was watching me warily. "Did what, exactly?"

"I found a solution."

He leaned against the door, a small smile at his mouth. "With the Levy situation?"

I nodded eagerly. "I told her. Well, not told her, exactly, I more like yelled at her, but still! I gave her a piece of my mind, and –"

"She's probably crying her eyes out right now." Gray finished for me, his eyebrow raised.

My stomach plummeted.

"…crap." I said quietly. I didn't mean to make her cry! I mean – I was just mad. I was angry with her for being such a brat, but…I was a brat right back at her. And I made her feel guilty…and…

I hate making people cry.

"Well, either way, I just wanted to say thanks – bye!" I said in one breath, hugging him tightly around the middle, then turning around to sprint down the stairs again.

I was already halfway down the stairs when I realized what I just did – shit, shit, shit. I just hugged Gray Fullbuster! As in, invaded his personal space without asking him, and…

Fuck, he must think I'm a creeper.

Well, I sort of am. But still.

I took the rest of the stairs three at a time, flinging myself into the room and looking around desperately for Levy. You never know – she might have gone psycho-insane and like…done something drastic. Like…shaved her head…or something.

But no. She was sitting there getting her snot all over a pillow.

"Sorry for yelling at you, Levy."

"No, I'm sorry, Juvia!" Levy protested, grabbing me around the middle and squeezing back.

"No. I'm sorry."

"No, I am."

"No –"

"We're both sorry?" Levy said quickly, before I could get out my sentence.

I grinned into her hair. "Yeah."

"I just – I know that was really bitchy of me," Levy sighed, letting me go and inching back so that she could lean against my bed. I lay down and put my head in her lap.

"It's okay," I said.

"No, it's really not," Levy muttered, "I guess I was really upset. I thought, after you'd told me so many times to go and tell him, that you suddenly changed your mind and like…I don't know…you didn't want us to be together or something and –" she let out a frustrated sigh, "I don't make sense. I guess what I'm really trying to say is that…well, I really like him."

I couldn't find anything to say to that, so I settled for an extremely lame, "Oh."

"It's just – well, I know there's a lot more to him than he lets on," Levy went on thoughtfully, absentmindedly playing with one of my curls, "and when I see those parts of him…I can't help but like them. I can't help but like him. Because he's pretty much…well, he's sorta perfect."

"Even though he's a jerk?" I asked doubtfully.

She giggled. "He's hiding something behind that jerki-ness, Via. I think you and I both know that."

"Well, I do. Question is, how'd you find out?" I grinned up at her, and she stuck her tongue out at me.

"You'll never know."

* * *

"Pssst!"

I'm going to pretend I haven't heard that, and instead concentrate on this lesson.

"Pssssst!" There was a short silence, then, "PSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSST!"

I put my head in my hands as the whole class fell silent and, as one entity, swiveled around to stare at Natsu, who had quickly ducked his head down and looked as though he was carefully taking notes. The teacher plowed on, and the class turned around again. I whipped in my seat to glare at Natsu.

"What?!" I whispered harshly.

"We need a new plan." Natsu said to me.

"Right now?"

"Well, it's not like you're actually listening to this lesson…are you?" Natsu finished uncertainly as my glare intensified.

"As a matter of fact," I retorted icily. "I happen to find this extremely interesting, so, yes, I'm actually listening to this class."

"But its…history." The word 'history' was said in a disgusted, hushed voice, like just the mere thought of it was completely vile.

"Yes, I can see that." I snapped.

"Sooooo, about those plans…"

I sighed and pulled out a new sheet of paper, muttering about how these stupid boys were corrupting me for good.

"We need a plan of action – how to break up Lucy and Loke." Natsu said assertively.

I stared at him. "Isn't Loke your friend?"

Natsu blinked at me. "Yes, and…?"

"I mean, don't you feel bad?"

He looked at me for another second. "No…"

I glared at him. "All's fair in love and war." Natsu shrugged. "Now, about those plans."

"Hold on." I inserted. "That's not right, Natsu."

"All's fair in love and war." Natsu insisted.

My eyes narrowed. "I'm not helping you with this."

"Aw, come on!" He said beseechingly.

"They'll get sick of each other in time," I promised. "Trust me. Lucy and Loke just won't work. He's too flirtatious and secretive, while she's more of a sharp, down-to-earth, blunt kind of person. They won't last long."

Natsu looked unsure. "I – I mean…like, are you completely positive?"

"Definitely," I responded. "What we can do right now is figure out the whole Lisanna situation, and teach you how to talk to Lucy without making a fool of yourself."

Natsu pouted. "I resent that."

"Well, either way, it's true," I said, putting my pen in my mouth as I gazed at Bixlow, who was sitting next to Loke and staring very intently at the back of Lisanna Strauss's head. His head was tilted slightly, and every time she moved her head or hummed quietly, his small smile would grow larger.

Okay, Bixlow is completely adorable.

I looked back at Natsu, but he was deep in thought, his brow furrowed. "What about you?" He finally asked.

I smiled. "It'll happen in time. That's not the main issue right now."

"Right," Natsu said, leaning forward. "Let's start planning."

* * *

I groaned and sighed deeply. Running sucked. Like really really SUCKED. The boys had come up with a whole training plan for me to "whip your shrimpy ass into shape," and were completely relentless. There was running, weight training, running, skating lessons, and a more running.

Assholes.

"Are you out here training? Do you think you can manage three more laps?" A voice said from my left. I looked over to see Jet's teasing face as he slowed down to run beside me on the track.

I scowled. "Of course I can."

Oh, who am I kidding? We all know I can't.

"Right," He laughed. "You'll pull through. I'll run with you."

I was honestly touched. "Thanks, Jet."

"Juvia!" snapping my head up I see Natsu jogging towards us. "I came by to check you were sticking to your regiment," he grinned.

I scowled, "Of course I am. I got myself into this mess, you guys don't deserve to be let down."

If possible his shit eating grin got even wider. "Oh hey" he said suddenly noticing Jet, "how you doing man?"

I fell silent as they chatted and my brain started to stray. I had to somehow get back at Gajeel – on Levy's account. Honestly, what is the idiot playing at?! First he kisses my best friend, and then he goes and gets himself a new freaking bimbo. And then he has the nerve to actually tell me that he's embarrassed of me!

Alright, well, fine, that last one is fully justified. But still.

"Jet," I began, turning around to look at him while we jogged. "Can I run something by you?"

"Sure," He said, looking amused and slightly confused.

"Alright. How opposed are you to fake dating Levy to get back at Gajeel?"

There was a short silence while Jet stared straight ahead, his eyes deep in thought, while Natsu's mouth hung dangerously close to the ground.

Ignoring Natsu's eyes glued to me I stumbled over my foot four times trying to run and look at Jet's face and run at the same time.

"That… could work," He said finally.

"Really?" I perked up. "So, you mean, you don't mind or anything? You would do it?"

"Yeah, I guess," He shrugged. "I mean, Levy's is hot, and I would love to pull one over on Redfox."

"Okay," I let out a long, deep breath. "Okay. That's good. Thanks, Jet."

"Hey I should probably go shower and get ready for class, I'll see you later Juvia! Natsu!" He jogged away with a quick wave over his shoulder.

After a short silence Natsu turned to me suddenly. "Do you ever have a plan to your madness, or do you just sort of go with it?"

I laughed uncertainly, not sure if he was being serious or not. "Honestly? I sort of just go with it – why?"

He laughed as well, although his seemed slightly hollow. "Nothing. I can see why you always seem a little lost."

"What's that supposed to mean?" My brow furrowed.

"You seem to be constantly digging yourself into even bigger holes," He said, turning to look at me.

I swallowed nervously. "That's what I do best," I joked weakly.

Natsu did not laugh. Clearly, he has not found my pathetic attempt at humor in the least bit amusing.

Damnit.

"Look," I began, sighing. "If digging huge, inescapable holes for myself will somehow help everyone else, I'm willing to do it."

"That's the thing!" He burst out suddenly, and I stumbled slightly in surprise. "You never want to do anything for yourself. What do you want, Juvia?"

"What do you mean? I want Levy and Gajeel to figure out their drama, of course." I stated, still confused by his sudden outburst.

"No!" Natsu threw his hands up in the air. "That's what you want for Levy and Gajeel! What do you want for yourself?"

I looked at him. "I'm not as selfless as you're making me out to be Natsu."

"That's not what I – okay, it sort of is – but," He took a deep, steadying breath. "It just really bugs me – how you're so completely willing to throw all caution to the wind and come up with a crazy, out-of-control plan that might not even work. You can't live like that – one of these days everything will just come and bite you in the ass, and you won't be able to do anything about it."

"Natsu," I smiled at him. "Everything happens for a reason. It's going to work out in the end, I just know it."

"You're so naïve, Via. Not everyone has their happy ending, and you know it."

I laughed harshly. "Of course I know it. I think I know it better than anyone else here."

Natsu suddenly looked cautious, like he knew that he'd managed to tread on a sensitive topic. "Look – all I'm trying to say is…think things through, alright?"

I sighed. "That's not a strong trait of mine, to be honest. You know how impulsive I am. The only thing I can't do is sit around and watch things happen around me. I've got to be doing something. But…if you don't think this is a good idea, just…let me know."

"I think," Natsu said thoughtfully. "I want to know what's in this for you."

I looked at him. "As of now, nothing."

"And as of later…?"

I sighed. "I'm in love with our hockey captain Natsu, what the hell do you think I want?"

Natsu barely blinked. "So how exactly is this all going to work out?"

I grinned. "It's not."

This time Natsu looked surprised. "Then what's the point of doing all this?"

I laughed. "Look at the big picture Natsu. We've got to somehow break up Lucy and Loke, help you win her over, help Bixlow ask out Lisanna, help Jellal win over Erza, make Gajeel jealous, break him up with his current piece of meat, and get Levy and Gajeel together. And then, somehow, get Gray Fulbuster to notice me as dating material."

Deep in thought he turned his gaze to me, grinning, he said a handful of words that pretty much just meant everything to me:

"Well what do you need me to do?"

Remind me to get Natsu a whole stash of assorted chocolates for Christmas.

And then make sure I don't eat them.

(Yes, this may or may not have happened before.

But seriously –Lucy was really very happy with her box of half-eaten chocolates. It is, after all, the thought that truly counts, right?

Right.)

* * *

Yay for clichés am I right?

Ya noooooooo

I am not a creative person.

But don't hate me it's gonna get interesting I promise!

Love you all so very very much! Please leave your thoughts in a review if you wish to return the love?


	12. Chapter 12

I am very aware of how out of character everyone is. I don't care. I'm going to write this regardless wither or not you read it.

For those who also don't care or who do like it, you have amazing taste, no really ;) absolutely impeccable taste.

* * *

"Levy," I said quietly, "How opposed are you to dating someone else to get back at Gajeel?"

BAM.

Right, maybe I shouldn't have sprung this one on her during chem. Our experiment seeped across the floor, but Levy stood there, her eyes wide, staring at me as though I had just uttered something completely vile.

"Hey, you guys alright?" Jet was there the next second, looking from face to face to make sure that one of us (read: me) hadn't done something drastic with the project.

Like, you know, drank it or something.

"Miss McGarden, Miss Lockser, is everything alright?" the teacher called from the front of the classroom. He craned his fat neck to see over people's heads, but didn't get up from his seat, since he knew that actually making it across the room was a hopeless cause.

"Er – yeah, sorry," I yelled back. "I tripped and knocked the beaker – no one's hurt, it's fine."

He sighed and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, 'of course'.

Hey, just because I'm a clumsy person does not mean that I'm always the root of the trouble! Jeez. No one asked you anyway, you fat old man. Go eat some cake.

Still scowling, I grabbed a couple of rags and handed one to Levy, who seemed to fall back into her senses as she took it from me, glaring slightly.

"What are you talking about?" She asked, her voice edging on hysteria as we both sprawled on the floor to clean up our – AHEM, LEVY'S, this time it wasn't my fault – mess.

"I'm talking about revenge," I said, a smirk curling up onto my face. Levy stared at me.

"You know, you look just like Gajeel right now," She said flatly.

"Well, we are related."

"Juvia, that's just sick. I refuse to use some random guy to get back at your jerk of a –"

"Calm down, Levy, we won't be using 'some random guy'," I cut across, rolling my eyes. "I already asked Jet, and he said yes."

"I did," Jet confirmed, his face popping down next to me. I jumped and yelped, glaring at him when he turned to smirk at me.

What a creeper.

Levy sighed and sat back, blowing some hair out of her eyes. She looked a bit psycho, but then again, that is the expression on her face whenever she's talking to me.

The fact that I make people crazy should worry me, but, quite frankly, I find myself not caring.

"Why would you say yes?" Levy asked slowly.

He shrugged. "Juvia needed my help. Plus, I gotta get back at Redfox anyway."

I couldn't help the smile that split across my face. Does this mean he's my friend? Oh my god, I think it does! Cool! I have friends! This is so exciting.

Wow, I sounded like a total social reject right there.

"Stop smirking, Juvia, this isn't funny," Levy snapped. I immediately wiped off my smile and assumed the expression of someone visiting a sick relative.

Trust me – when Levy is in her state, it's not smart to mess with her. She will bite your head off. Literally.

Well, no, not literally. That's disgusting.

"Levy, you're making this a lot harder than it should be," Jet stepped in, his voice soothing and calm. Levy stopped glaring and turned to him.

"I don't want to get messed up in all this drama," She said. "I have better things to worry about – like school –"

OH MY GOD, HOW AM I FRIENDS WITH THIS NERD?!

"You don't think that Redfox deserves it?" Jet asked.

"Yeah, Levy," I stepped in helpfully. "He was way out of line back there. I mean, first he stalks you, then he kisses you, and then it's like kaybye!"

Levy's expression slowly turned from irritation to speculation, so me and Jet exchanged a quick high-five behind her back. I cannot believe that phase…er…a phase of The Plan might actually come into effect!

Okay, fine, I don't exactly have The Plan...planned out, per se, but I have a vague-ish idea in my head! I mean, at least I have something. At least I'm not stumbling blindly through life with no –

Wait. I kind of am.

Whoops.

"Jet, I have no idea why you're so keen on this, but thank you so much!" I whispered elatedly to him as Levy started muttering to herself, weighing the options of this plan.

"Fine. I'll only do this if we tell Lucy, though," Levy sighed. "And Erza. And Cana. And –"

"Why don't we just tell the rest of our year, so that the whole school finds out?" I asked sarcastically.

She glared at me as well. What, do I have the words 'Glare at Me' tattooed across my forehead or something? Mavis, if looks could kill, I would have died about eight painful deaths in just the span of today.

"We'll tell Lucy, Erza, and Cana, if it really means that much to you," Jet intervened before Levy could blow up at me.

"Thank you," Levy said, sending me a very pointed look. I rolled my eyes. "It's just that Lucy's better at these things than I am, so I might like, need her help or something." She said.

I stared at her. "So you mean that Lucy's fake-dated someone before?"

"No!" Levy said, laughing nervously. "It's just that she's better at being all cunning and whatnot. Like, when we were little, there was that one time with the noodles and Cana and her dad and Mr. Conbolt, that was all her. And then there was that other time – oh my god, stop looking at me like that!" Levy yelled loudly, covering her head with her arms.

Jet and I continued to gaze blankly at her.

I grinned at Jet. "Starting to second-guess our sanity?"

"Via, that ship has already sailed, hit an iceberg, sunk, and left thousands to drown at sea and perish in the bottomless chasm that is your insanity."

... Well that was rather harsh.

* * *

"Heh. Heh heh heh. MWEH HEH HEH!"

A couple of terrified freshman slowly peeked underneath the table where I was currently sitting, and, upon seeing my 'evil cackling face', looked terrified and sprinted away as fast as their little legs could carry them. That's right! RUN, YOU LITTLE MIDGETS!

Why am I gleefully chuckling to myself underneath a library table, you ask? Well, it's because a) I am a freak, and b) I just saw Lisanna Strauss! Working by herself! WHICH MEANS THAT ANOTHER PHASE OF THE PLAN SHALL OFFICIALLY COMMENCE!

As soon as I'm done being happy under this table!

And…three…two…okay, I'm done.

I am way too good at this stalking thing.

Climbing out nonchalantly and consequently scaring a batch of sophomores, I dusted myself off and sauntered over as suavely as I could towards Lisanna.

And by 'as suavely as I could' I mean I tripped over my own foot and fell on my face right in front of her table.

Smooth, Juvia. Real smooth.

"Guhh," I moaned into the floor. I can tell you this much – the library floors have not been cleaned in about fifty years.

"Hey, are you alright?"

I looked up and saw that Lisanna was hovering over me, her pretty face clouded with concern and just a hint of amusement. Smiling as charmingly as I could, I hoisted myself up, using her proffered hand as an anchor.

"Thanks," I said. "And I'm fine. I do that a lot. No biggie."

She laughed. "You're Juvia Lockser, right?" She asked.

I smiled widely again. "Yeah! And you're Lisanna. Lisanna Strauss."

She looked surprised. "I didn't think you knew me."

"'Course I do, you've been in my dorm for a year."

"Yeah, but you always called me "Baby Demon". Her eyebrow cocked up towards the end of the sentence.

I laughed as casually as I could. "Did I? Must not have been talking about you."

(I was.)

"It's okay, I know you were," Lisanna said in amusement.

"Sorry," I said abashedly. "Friends?" I stuck my hand out for her to take, and, looking at me with her head cocked to the side, she took it.

"Okay," She looked a bit confused. "But – er…why the sudden interest?"

"Better late then never, right?" I asked cheerfully. "Besides, I could always use some female friends. I have too many of the male variety."

Lisanna just laughed, not quite knowing what to say to that.

"I mean, I don't quite know if they're really friends, but they're on my hockey team and they seem to like me okay, so I guess we're pretty much friends," I rambled thoughtfully.

Lisanna suddenly looked downright horrified. "Hold on…you're on the Hockey team?"

"Yeah, I'm the new forward," I said.

"No offense, but…how did you get on it?" Lisanna asked.

I glowered. "You know, when people say 'no offense', they generally tend to offend you anyway."

"Sorry, I just meant that you're sort of – er…" Lisanna backtracked quickly.

"Clumsy?" I offered dryly.

"Well…yeah."

"It was either me or that puking freshman, so I guess they chose me." I shrugged.

Lisanna laughed nervously. "Well…hopefully we'll do okay. I mean, as long as we keep ahead of Phantom…"

I stared blankly at her as she continued to ramble hockey statistics.

"I see your mouth moving, but I don't understand a single word coming out of it," I told her, and she shut up.

"Sorry," She said. "I just really like the game."

"You should have tried out for the team or something!" I said.

"Oh, no," She laughed. "I couldn't have – I don't do well under pressure. At all."

I sighed. "Me neither, but I was possessed by… uh um… tiny flying cats! So I tried out anyway. Now I'm stuck."

"Well…" Lisanna hesitated. "I can help you out, if you want?"

I brightened. "You would do that for me?"

"Sure, I mean –"

"Oh my god, thank you so much!" I cut her off with a bone-crunching hug. "Gosh, where have you been all my life?"

She smiled, another shy, quiet smile. "Right here, I guess."

"We," I declared, slinging an arm over her shoulders, "are going to be great friends. I can just see it."

Bixlow is going to kiss the ground at my feet.

Oh, this is good.

* * *

Later that day, displaying an uncharacteristic enthusiasm, I quite literally waltzed into practice.

"What's up with you?" Natsu asked warily as I plopped down next to him, positively beaming.

"Guess who I just made friends with?" I asked smugly.

"Er…let's see – is it –"

"Lisanna Strauss," I cut across, before he completely ignored the idea of a 'rhetorical question' and started guessing anyway.

"Who?" Bixlow whipped around so fast that his face was nearly a blur. He was staring at me with his freakish eyes expanded to a proportion that was slightly worrying.

"Your lover," I said proudly to him. "I'm now friends with her. And shes amazing, so she might be helping me out a bit."

Bixlow looked like someone had just sucker-punched him across the face.

"Feel free to present me with assorted chocolates and kiss the ground upon which my blessed feet rest," I added.

"I love you!" Bixlow yelled, leaping at me a little too enthusiastically. I fell to the floor with an attractive 'hunf!' and wheezed dramatically as Bixlow squeezed the air right out of my lungs.

"You tackled me!" I gasped in outrage, struggling to push his arms off of me. "You tackled me to the ground! What in the name of god is wrong with –"

"IloveyouIloveyouIloveyou!" Bixlow squealed in a very girly manner, still pinning me to the ground. "You're the most wonderful thing that's ever happened to me! I could kiss you right now!"

"Wow, please don't."

"Should I just come back later?" Gray's amused voice cut across the simply heartwarming scene I was currently sharing with Bixlow.

Shit.

"No – stay!" I said desperately, still trying to pry Bixlow's arms off. "Get this psycho off of me!"

"Aw, Lockser, don't be cold," Gray smirked. "It's clear that our little Bixlow has fallen madly in love with you."

It really bugs me how Gray Fulbuster somehow manages to believe in complete and utter delusional nonsense, but still cannot seem to grasp the fact that I'm perfect for him.

"Ha!" I barked out. "Don't be ridiculous, Bixlow doesn't – FOR GOD'S SAKE, GET OFF OF ME!" Using all of my rather meager strength, I shoved him off of me and onto the floor, whereupon he lay, sighing and staring happily at the ceiling.

"Juvia is my new best friend," He announced dreamily. I staggered up and rubbed the back of my head, muttering angrily under my breath.

"I do the guy a freaking favor, and he tackles me. Typical, really…"

"What did you do?" Gray asked me, raising an eyebrow at Bixlow, who was still being happy on the floor.

"I befriended the girl that he's madly in love with," I said, still feeling proud that I managed to make a new friend all by myself today. And I did it without scaring her away or anything! She didn't even scream! Not even once!

God, this is so fantastic.

"Then why is he so ecstatic?" Gray asked. "I mean, you're friends with her…not him…"

"Oh, no, see, I promised him that I'd somehow set them up, so…" I gestured to him on the floor. "Yeah."

Gray smiled at me suddenly, and my body stopped working. "That was pretty cool of you, Lockser."

I gulped. "Er – thanks. Call – call me Juvia, okay?"

I'm a pathetic excuse for a girl.

His grin widened. "Okay. Juvia."

My returning smile was a bit wobbly (ohmigawd he said my name and it sounds so good I can't breathe), but he had already turned to the rest of the team and barked out a loud, "Five laps, guys, and then we're getting on the ice today!" He turned to me. "All of us."

Great.

* * *

"It would help if you opened your eyes, you know," Gray's voice said from next to me.

"Shut up," I squeaked. "I don't want to open them."

"Juvia," He said in exasperation, the name still rolling off of his tongue a bit awkwardly. "You've already done this before. I know you can skate. Come on, open those eyes."

I slowly cracked an eye open, and saw that Gray was watching me with a rather amused expression on his face as he glided in front of me.

"See? You're doing just fine."

"Okay," I breathed, opening the other eye. "Okay. This isn't so bad. I haven't fallen yet."

"Exactly," His voice was comforting and encouraging. "You got on the ice just fine; now all you have to do is try to skate around a bit. Er – slowly."

I let out a shaky laugh. "Good one."

"I know you can do this," He said firmly. "You just need to trust yourself, okay? You've done it before and you were just fine –"

"I didn't know what I was doing!" I snapped out.

"Maybe you're thinking about this too much. Just let your instincts take over."

"My instincts want me safely on solid ground without blades strapped to my feet, where I won't do as much potential damage."

He sighed. "Juvia, you need to trust yourself."

I laughed incredulously. "I'm sorry, are you honestly telling the girl who trips over her own foot on a daily basis to trust herself? You have got to be kidding me."

"Look, Elfman's really clumsy on the ground, too," said, pointing out our white haired teammate, who was looping around in the rink looking absolutely carefree. "But when he gets on the ice, he's something totally different. It might be that way with you, too."

"Yeah," I said. "Key word being might. Gray, I'm going to kill either someone else or myself if I keep trying to do this. Can I please just – um…what are you doing?" I asked warily as he moved closer to me.

"Hold still." He ordered, bringing himself up behind me.

"You can relax now," Gray's voice said at my ear, sounding distinctly amused. I craned my neck around at him afraid to attempt turning with these stupid knife shoes.

"Your hands," He said, using his hand to take my chin and turn my face back to the front again. I was so appalled that I didn't even register the fact that Gray Fulbuster had just touched my face.

Holy crap.

He murmured at my ear, "Are going to go here." He took my elbows and moved them so my hands grasped the hockey stick correctly.

Oh. My. God. Gray Fulbuster currently has his arms wrapped around me.

At this point, I'm doing my best to simply stay alive and not die of happiness.

"Okay," I said softly, tightening them on the handle.

"No," He placed his hands on top of mine – breathe, Juvia, breathe – and loosened them gently. "Don't hold on so tightly. You're just guiding the puck."

"Mmm-hmm," I said in agreement, not trusting myself to speak properly. My heart was going crazy in my chest.

"You're going to lean forward very slowly," He instructed, pressing forward so that I would lean as well, "And…move." We glided forward and I couldn't help but let out a little laugh of amazement.

"There we go," He said, his voice sounding victorious.

Taking in a deep breath, I leaned moved ever so slightly again, handling the puck at the end of my stick gracefully. If I do say so myself. I felt absolutely free, like was flying.

The awesome part – I managed to circle the rink a grand total of four whole times without falling or harming myself/someone else/an inanimate object.

A major achievement, in my books.

"See, I knew you could do it," Gray said as I slowly glided to a stop in front of him.

"Thank you so much!" I said breathlessly "That –"

"Oi, smile!"

I looked up just in time to catch the blinding flash of the camera the Natsu was holding in front of his face. Giving us an exaggerated wink and a sarcastic little wave, he zoomed away backwards, blowing kisses the whole way.

I probably should have been pissed that Natsu was being a total asshole, but I couldn't help myself – I threw back my head and started laughing loudly, Gray joining in. I stopped abruptly as there was another flash.

"Natsu!" I screamed. "Enough pictures already!"

He stuck his tongue glided away again.

Gray was still laughing as we slowly moved toward the doors. He hopped over the wall with no problem, but I only managed to flip myself upside down on my ass.

Oh look, I finally screwed up. Life suddenly makes sense again.


	13. Chapter 13

"Why did I agree to this? Why, why, why?" Levy muttered frantically under her breath as we walked down the hallway. She was holding hands with Jet and looked distinctly uncomfortable as she elbowed me continuously in the ribs.

"Levy, do me a favor and calm down," I hissed, swatting her elbow aside and jabbing her in the stomach. She let out a loud yelp of pain and jumped backwards onto Jet.

"You okay?" He murmured as he set her upright. She was blushing furiously, but nodded anyway.

I rolled my eyes. "Honestly Levy, you're acting like a child. You're only holding hands with him, for god's sake."

Levy blushed even deeper. "You know, I'm starting to think that maybe this wasn't the best idea after all," she said as she untangled her hand from Jet's. He let out an exasperated huff.

"Levy, this is now the eighth time in the past half hour that you've changed your mind."

"Yes," she responded. "But this time I actually mean it."

"And that's the eighth time you said that in the past half hour," I pointed out. Levy shot me a sharp glare, and I smirked widely at her.

"Stupid Gajeel," she said angrily. "This is all his fault! The jerkface – gah!" She quickly seized Jet's hand and hauled him towards her as a tall someone with dark hair started walking down the hallway towards us.

"You do that every time you see someone with black hair," I said, amused. "That's not even Gajeel, so you can – Gajeel!"

I grinned my most innocent smile and waved as he walked up to us, shooting me a wary look in the process.

Note to self: work on innocent smile.

"Via," he said gruffly, bumping his shoulder into me. I mussed up his hair as grinned down on me, and he scowled before fixing it.

"You're such a girl about your hair."

"And you fucking lack femininity."

"Jerk."

"Freak."

"Ass."

"Brat."

"Loser."

"Idiot."

"Dumbas –"

"Hello, how long are you two going to keep this up?" Levy cut across loudly, looking irate.

I shrugged. "Depends. Sometimes we keep it up for hours."

"Until I win," Gajeel agreed. He grinned down at Levy, winking at her and then smirking as she turned bright red. Jet cleared his throat loudly, and Gajeel's eyes flitted over to him, and then down to their intertwined hands. The smirk slid right off of his face.

"I'll see you later, Juvia," he said in a low voice, glancing at Levy oddly one more time (she was carefully studying the ceiling, looking as though she wished to be anywhere but here at the moment) before turning around and walk/stomping away quickly.

There was a short, awkward silence.

"That went well," I said brightly.

"Are you kidding?" Levy squeaked. "That was horrible! Jet, this is not going to work for me at all –"

"Levy, just let him think you two are dating for a couple of days, alright?" I said. "You don't have to walk down the hallway holding hands with Jet if you don't want to."

Levy dropped his hand right away.

"I take offense to that," Jet said petulantly.

"I'm sorry Jet," Levy said sincerely. "It's just – I – have to go."

With that, she turned around and quite literally sprinted away from us.

"So, this isn't awkward at all," I announced happily, turning around to grin widely at a bemused-looking Jet. He shook his head in exasperation.

"I'll see you around?" He asked as he was walking away.

"Yeah," I called. "Hey if you're going back to the dorms tell Bixlow to look nice tonight."

He turned around to walk backwards, looking at me in confusion. "Why?"

I grinned. "I'm bringing Lisanna around."

* * *

"No."

"Oh, come on!"

"No."

"You said you would come!"

"I never said I was going to come to practice with you."

"Please?"

"No!"

"Come on, it'll be fun!"

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"Juvia. No!"

"You're coming with me."

"Okay, what part of 'no' don't you understand?"

I took a second to think about it.

"Pretty much all of it," I grabbed Lisanna's arm and started dragging her towards the door. "Now come on, I'm going to be late."

"No!" She cried, struggling against my hold. "Juvia, I'm not sure if my past history has told you anything at all, but I'm not good at mixing with people."

"Just be yourself," I said, pulling her out of the lounge. "They're going to like you no matter what – you'll seem downright normal compared to me."

"Okay," Lisanna set her feet firmly on the ground and brought me to a screeching halt. "I refuse to go to your hockey practice."

"Why?" I demanded angrily.

"Because – because –" Lisanna sighed in exasperation. "Because they're all muscled and gorgeous and popular and I'm not."

I looked at her for a minute. "You're kidding," I said flatly. "That's the only reason you don't want to come?"

"Isn't it reason enough?" She asked disbelievingly.

"Lisanna. You're gorgeous. Now come on, Gray is going to have my head if I'm any later than this –"

"I am not gorgeous," Lisanna argued feebly as she finally submitted to my insistences and started walking by herself. She looked quite flattered, though.

"Yes, you are," I said.

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not."

"I can keep this up all day, so just admit it now."

Lisanna sighed heavily. "Are you always this annoying?"

"Yes," I responded right away.

She sighed again. "What was I thinking?" She muttered under her breath, dodging quickly when I shot my hand out to smack her.

"You would've been really good at hockey," I said, impressed more than anything else.

She shrugged. "Like I said, I don't really like crowds. Love hockey, though."

"Psst! Via!"

I stopped in the middle of the hallway, my head cocked to the side. "Did you hear that?"

"No, you're just going crazy," Lisanna said in soothing voice. "Don't listen to the voices in your head, sweetie, you'll be okay."

"I'm serious."

"Juvia! Get your ass over here!"

"See? You heard that, didn't you?" I demanded, whirling around in the hallway. Lisanna looked deeply perturbed.

"You know, I think just being around you makes people insane," she said nervously.

"Don't be ridiculous, insanity isn't contagious," I said dismissively.

"For Fuck's sake, you sure are stupid." Gajeel popped out from around a corner, causing me to scream loudly and leap backwards onto Lisanna.

"Ow! What the hell is wrong with you, you jerk?" I asked, picking myself off of the floor and cuffing him violently over the head. Lisanna cursed loudly again and struggled to get up. I leaned down, grasping her hand and hauling her to her feet.

"I feel like this is something I'm going to have to get used to," Lisanna said resignedly.

I grimaced. "Yeah, you might."

Gajeel was looking intently at Lisanna, noticing her straight, short, platinum hair and light blue, almost silvery eyes. Lisanna was better than pretty – she looked unique. She was the type of beautiful that you couldn't find on anyone else (well except her sister), so when you looked at her once, you simply had to look again.

"I'm Gajeel. Gajeel Redfox," he said in a low voice. She looked flustered.

"Lisanna Strauss," she said, smiling nervously.

I stepped viciously on Gajeel's foot, and his teeth gritted slightly. "What?" He hissed.

"Leave my friends alone," I said loudly, pulling his hand away from Lisanna's. "I don't want you messing up their lives, thank you very much. You're such a typical asshole– you notice a pretty face and right away, you're interested –"

"Shut it, Juvia," he said tiredly. "I don't see why I can't introduce myself to a girl without you thinking I want to get in their fucking pants. That's not all I think about, you know."

Lisanna was blushing wildly.

"Of course that's all you think about," I snapped impatiently. "You've probably already come up with about eight different scenarios that would make you seem all mysterious bad boy and make her fall for you. Don't think I don't know what goes on in that devious little head –"

"I already know what goes on in yours – nothing," Gajeel snorted.

"Oh, good one."

"Uh, gudun," he imitated in a stupid voice.

"Uhgudun," I shot back in the same voice.

"Ugun."

"Uh –"

"Apparently, insanity runs in your family," Lisanna cut across, looking amused. We turned around to glare at her.

"Is someone paying you to make these little remarks?" I asked touchily. "WAIT!" I suddenly screamed, looking at my watch. "I'm late to practice! Gottagobye!" I elbowed Gajeel, grabbed Lisanna's hand, and started sprinting towards the rink

"Hold up! I have to ask you a question!" Gajeel called after me.

"It can wait!"

"Is Shorty really going out with that track guy?"

"What's it to you?" I screamed. A hand grabbed my shoulder and spun me around, right into Gajeel's livid face.

"It's important to me," he snarled. Suddenly, I was pissed – who the hell does he think he is?

"Why do you care?" I asked angrily.

"Because I just do."

I scoffed. "You can't fuck around with a girl and then suddenly decide to care, Gajeel. Life doesn't revolve around your needs and wishes."

"Maybe I have cared all along," he shot back.

"Good job showing it." I spared him one more glare, then turned around to run to practice.

Gajeel will get over it – he's a big boy; he can handle some Juvia-anger.

Ugh, I'll go and apologize later, okay?

* * *

"You're late."

I panted heavily, leaning slightly on Lisanna to regain my breath. She looked fine, which slightly irked me, since I've been the poor loser running laps out here in order to get used to this sort of torture.

"Sorry," I huffed, wincing slightly at the scowl on Gray's face.

"You're half an hour late," he continued ominously.

"Whoops?" I tried weakly. His glare darkened. Okay, new tactic –

"It's Gajeel's fault!" I said quickly. "He abducted me to demand information about Levy and he wouldn't let me go until I told him – right Lisanna?" I elbowed her swiftly in the ribs.

"Yeah," she said unconvincingly.

I nodded vigorously.

Gray's gaze narrowed as he sized me up again before he sighed. "Fine. Just don't let it happen again."

I grinned, relieved. "I won't. I'm really sorry."

He let out a reluctant grin in response and nodded at Lisanna. "Who's your friend?" He asked.

"This is Lisanna." I shoved her from behind and she stumbled forward, a weak smile on her face. "She's brilliant at hockey," I continued. "Except she really doesn't like crowds or attention, so she didn't try out for the team, but she said she'd help me."

"I never said I'd help her," Lisanna interjected. "She dragged me to practice against my will."

I smiled peacefully and shrugged.

"Anyway," I said loudly, sending an encouraging look to Lisanna, who looked slightly less nervous. "That's Gray–"

"The captain and defensive man," Lisanna filled in for me. "I know, I pay attention to hockey."

"Well, I like introducing people, so shh," I told her. "That's Bixlow, Jellal, Natsu, Lucy, Loke, and Elfman who you of course know I mean he's your brother there's no reason you wouldn't know him unless you had some tragic 'switched at birth' backstor-"

"So, Lisanna," Gray said loudly, before I could carry out my ramblings. "What are you really good at, hockey-wise?"

Lisanna bit her lip. "Well…I like being the offence."

"Brilliant, she can take my spot!" I perked up. The team swiveled towards me as an entity, all with dry, annoyed looks on their faces.

What? It's a good idea.

* * *

"I still don't see why Lisanna can't take my spot!" I complained loudly to anyone who would listen (which happened to be no one).

"Juvia, here!"

"Whaa?" I shrieked and stopped the puck before it could zoom between my legs. Then, upon realizing that ohmigawd, I actually stopped it, I promptly fell over onto my ass.

I embody the concept of debonair.

"Great!" Gray said enthusiastically, standing over me with twitching lips. "Next time, try and stay upright, yeah?"

"Remind me again why I'm in love with you?" I muttered angrily under my breath.

"Pardon?"

"Nothing." I smiled sweetly and pulled myself off of the ice. Gray reached forward and dusted off my elbows, then gently moved the puck away from my feet with his own stick.

"We're all going to shoot these at you, alright?" he said. "And you've got to try and stop them."

"You're going to what?" I asked in a horrified voice. Gray turned around to grin at me in his annoyingly sexy way.

"No way!" I said loudly. "No fucking way in hell are you guys going to – GAH!" I yelped as roughly fifty different pucks went flying toward me.

Fine, it was more like seven, but still.

"Stop!" I shrieked as puck shot toward me, effectively turning me into a patchwork of bruises. "STOP IT NOW, OTHERWISE I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL HURT EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU IN WAYS THAT YOU CANNOT EVEN BEGIN TO FATHOM!"

They stopped.

Damn right, bitches. Be afraid of the big bad Juvia.

I stood in the middle of the circle made of the psychopaths that I had unwittingly called 'friends', breathing heavily, my hands curling up at my sides.

"Are you okay?" Lisanna finally broke the uneasy silence.

"Not particularly." I glared at her. "Traitor." I added.

"Juvia, the concept of this is for you to stop these pucks and be able to pass them back," Jellal explained. "You managed to get hit with every single one of them."

"You need to know how to stop and pass," Natsu said. "And you sort of have to learn to, you know, not suck."

I glared at him. "Natsu, stop talking."

"Okay," he said meekly.

"Look, just don't think about it too much, alright?" Gray said. "Let your body take over, and you might even surprise yourself."

"Usually when that happens, I find myself with my face pressed against the ground."

"Alright, we'll start at the count of three!" Gray announced cheerfully, completely disregarding my last comment. My eyes grew.

"No, wait, hold on –"

"One!"

"I'm not –"

"Two!"

"I'm serious, please –"

"Three!"

"NOOO!" I yelled, ducking for cover as they all pelted their pucks at me.

I bet they're enjoying this.

Sadistic fiends.

I attempted to stop some of the flying rubber – more like injury-inducing grenades – as best as I could. I was even able to swat a couple out of my way, which is pretty amazing in my books.

A couple meaning one or two. The rest came flying right at me.

Fantastic.

"Fuck!" I hit one with my hand and it went careening away. "Shit!" I dove out of the way of three different pucks. "CRAP!" I stopped one with my stick – "Fuck, I stopped it! AUGH!" I fell to the ground as three more hit me in the stomach, effectively knocking the breath clear out of my lungs.

"Fucking shit, damn it, motherfucker ahhhh–" I wheezed, standing up and letting out a loud squeal as I was forced to twirl around like a demented ballerina to avoid ten different pucks.

Yes, ten. Because they were all shooting pucks at me non stop at this point, and Bixlow had actually progressed to the point where he was kicking them at me four or five towards at a time.

Bixlow's is going to Hell. If he doesn't, I swear I will march up to Zeref and demand a refund on life.

"I hate you! All of you – I hate you with my whole freaking heart, and I hope you all die as miserable old lonely men and women in your case, you little bitch –" I screamed at them as I continued to dodge pucks. I was pleased to note that only about three-fourths of the them were managing to hit their mark. Namely me. I was able to fully dodge a fourth of them. Plus I shot back three.

That's right. Three. Be proud.

BE PROUD, DAMN IT.

"That's it!" I screamed as two pucks bounced off of my skull. "I quit!"

There was a loud silence as I shot a scathing glare towards them, and then turned around to march towards the doors with the last remaining remnants of my shattered pride.

Then, with a loud war-cry from Natsu of, "GET HER!", I found myself suddenly pursued by a bunch of hockey-driven boys and one extremely gleeful Lisanna Strauss.

I decided that this called for drastic measures. And skated the hell out of my legs. Screw pride; at this point, I'm fearing for my life.

Ironically enough, it was Bixlow who caught up to me first, he dove at my legs and sent me tumbling to the ground. Just as I managed to scramble to my feet, Gray slammed into me, grabbing me around the middle and pulling me on top of him as he fell onto his back. I was screaming, kicking at the air and writhing around like a hysterical toddler, but he managed to hold onto me, locking his arms around my stomach and trying to spit out clumps of my sweaty hair that had managed to find their way into his mouth.

I hope he chokes on my hair.

And needs mouth-to-mouth.

From me.

Natsu, laughing like the deranged maniac that he is, dived on top of the two of us next, closely followed by Jellal, Loke, Lucy, Elfman then, finally, Lisanna, who decided last minute to screw it all and just join the pile of screaming hockey players.

Both Natsu and Loke found it necessary to hug me around the middle as well (I tried not to die of happiness at actually lying on top of Gray), and were currently giggling into my very ticklish stomach, which made me chuckle up a storm as well.

"You," Gray panted in my ear, "are not quitting."

"Okay." I'd agree to just about anything in this predicament, to be honest. Especially something along the lines of 'kiss-me-now-Juvia'.

"And that's final," Bixlow barked up in agreement. "Now will you please get your smelly feet off of my face?"

* * *

Hey guys! I've been busy so sorry about the delay... please tell me what you think! I crave your feed back when I get stuck... like now... lots and lots of love and thanks!


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